Biscuits: The remix

Over the holidays I made Bs and Gs while we stayed at my parent's house.  One of my brothers thought my biscuit recipe was unnecessarily complicated in comparison to how he usually makes them.  He couldn't remember his recipe but he did remember that he crumbled butter in to the flour and folded the dough a few times to create layers.  I was intrigued since I trust his sensibilities when it comes to making things simple (the same brother that uses a beer bottle as a rolling pin and when he lived by himself he only owned one cup, one bowl, and one plate) so I decided to keep my eyes out for a new recipe.

Fate would drop a new recipe in to my lap just a few days later when I received a new baking book as a gift (I'm looking forward to working my way through all the recipes, though I may gain a few pounds in the process).  The book is used in a number of culinary programs for pastry chefs so when I saw a buttermilk biscuit recipe it felt like destiny.  With a quick Google search of "The Baker's Manual PDF" you can download the entire book yourself, or find the biscuit recipe here.

I didn't have cake flour so I used just All Purpose flour and didn't notice anything wrong with the biscuits.  Also I did not have buttermilk so I added a little white vinegar to the milk to provide a little sourness.  Lastly since I still do not have a round biscuit cutter I made rectangular biscuits and used the pizza wheel to cut the biscuits.  I've learned from experience that using a sharp cutter is critically important for getting a good rise from your biscuits.

Grated the frozen butter using a cheese grater

As you can see I made the biscuits a little too thick so they separated when baking.  I pulled them apart and put them back in the oven for a few minutes to finish baking.  Next time I make them I will keep them a little thinner before they go in to the oven (mine were about an inch and half before they went in to the oven and the recipe suggested an inch).  I was really happy with the texture and they seemed to be a bit flakier than the King Arthur recipe I used originally.  I'll have to make each a few more times to get a better idea of what kind we prefer.