Friday night is finally here and now I can sit down sharing with you about my recent experiment. And speaking of experiment, sometimes I think it`s funny when I realize that I work in a lab where I measure chemicals and stuff, mix them altogether, heat or freeze them, make notes, take pictures, and so on. Then, at home, I practically do the same things, only with edible ingredients and these additional steps. Tasting, and eating the results. I guess I spend my time in two laboratories with two different projects and purposes.
So, back to my kitchen experiment. As I told you before about how I`m into baking these days, I found a biscuit recipe in Betty Crocker`s The Big Red Cookbook in which whipping cream is used to replace butter or shortening. Great! I always prefer to bake everything without butter whenever possible, so I was very excited to give the recipe a try. Not that I`m a butter hater person-believe me, you can kidnap me only with a jar of butter cookies-, but if I have the option not to use it, I`ll be happier.
I`ve once made biscuit using butter before, but the biscuits turned out to be heavy and didn`t rise as high as what I`ve expected. I`m sure my baking skill is the only thing to blame for, but I knew I had to try making them again and I`m so glad I did!
Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
Stir in whipping cream until you can form the dough into a ball.
Like this one. To me it looks like a cauliflower.
You can adjust the amount of the cream to get the right consistency. If you`ve added the whole amount of cream I listed below but your dough is still dry and too crumbly, add 1-2 Tbs more cream. If your dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour.
Knead the dough for a few times on a floured surface and roll out until 1-cm thick.
The next proper thing to do is cutting it out with a biscuit cutter or a cup. I don`t have the cutter or cups with suitable size either, so I just cut it using my knife unevenly. Unintentionally, of course. My apologies to the biscuit inventor.
Have you ever seen biscuits that look like tofu??
Bake them at 210 C for 15 mins or until the top has turned browned.
Seriously, I thought the biscuits has turned into tofu puffs in my oven. Anyway, tofu puffs or biscuits, just look how wonderfully they rise up!
After they`re out from the oven, they will shrink down a bit and you`ll notice the cracking side in each of them.
You can serve them with whatever you like, but I happened to have some strawberries and oranges, so I decided to make my own jam. I don`t have any special recipe for making fruit jam, but in case you`ve never made any, it`s no rocket science and here`s how to make it.
Start with: washing the fruits. Of course.
If you use the same fruits like I did, cut up the strawberries into small chunks and juice the oranges.You can puree everything if you like, but I prefer to have some texture in my jam.
Heat the strawberries, orange juice-I added the pulp in too-, sugar, and a pinch of salt on medium heat.
Confession: that white powder you are now looking at is all SALT. Salt, everyone. It was a very salty accident. I had to discard the juice, rinse the strawberries with water, and pour in another fresh batch of orange juice.
So, make sure that you`re adding more SUGAR than salt, unless salty jam is what you want.
I didn`t add water at all, but the orange juice and the water coming out from the strawberries is enough to turn the mixture into a thick liquid.
Keep stirring and cook until the jam has thickened or until it has reached your preferred consistency.
Pour the jam into a jar, seal, and store it in fridge.
Spread the jam on the biscuits and you`ll find how wonderfully they marry together. The biscuits are so light and puffy and the sweet tangy strawberry jam makes everything joyful! Homemade bread and homemade jam under 1 hour. Can you believe it? I should call them weekend achievement.
I`ll be coming back, hopefully soon, with a post on how I used up the stale biscuits!
CREAM BISCUITS
Adapted from Betty Crocker`s Big Red Cookbook
Makes about 12 buns
Ingredients:
240 g bread flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
200 ml whipping cream (heavy cream)
Method:
1. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
2. Stir in whipping cream until you can form the dough into a ball.
3. Knead the dough for a few times on a floured surface and roll out until 1-cm thick.
4. Cut out the dough with a biscuit cutter or cup.
5. Bake at 210 C for 15 mins or until the top has turned browned.
STRAWBERRY ORANGE JAM
Makes about 1 1/2 cup
Ingredients:
10 strawberries
2 medium-sized oranges to produce about 1 cup of juice
2 Tbs sugar
A pinch of salt
Method:
1. Cut up the strawberries into small chunks and juice the oranges
2. Heat the strawberries, orange juice (and the pulp too), sugar, and a pinch of salt on medium heat.
3. Keep stirring and cook until the jam has thickened.
4. Pour the jam into a jar, seal, and store it in fridge.
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