Angel Biscuits
2001-11-26 @ 11:51 a.m.
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Years ago when I first went to my wife's (Badsnake) parents' home for the holidays, I was treated to Angel Biscuits. They were Bad's grandmother's contribution to the meal. They were melt-in-your-mouth light and fluffy. Ever since I started experimenting with yeast bread I've thought about trying those rolls, but I never got the recipe. I think I figured no one could make them quite like that except Bad's grandmother.
But then earlier this year I found a recipe for Angel Biscuits by Nathalie Dupree, an Atlanta cookbook author and local TV show host. I assumed that it would be different somehow from Bad's grandmother's recipe (two cooks hardly ever make the same thing the same way), but I decided to try it.
I should let you know that I was taking a risk by trying yeast bread for Thanksgiving because I was having my period. I have not had good luck with yeast bread during my period and a friend told me that her Italian grandmother insists you should never work with pasta dough during your period. It may be an old wives tale type thing, but I didn't come up with the idea until after I had a couple of bad experiences of dough refusing to rise.
Anyway, I gave it a shot. It worked out pretty well, though not as light and fluffy as Bad's grandmother's. Then Bad brought home her grandmother's recipe for me after her visit home for Thanksgiving. So here are two recipes for you. The thing I find most interesting about these is the duplication (triplication) of leavening. Both recipes use yeast and baking soda (Dupree's also uses baking powder and grandmother's also uses self-rising flour) and buttermilk, which enhances the leavening ability of the baking soda. I guess that explains the extra light and fluffy nature of the biscuits. I will try these again when I'm not having my period and see if it makes a difference. (I don't know if the problem with yeast bread during my period is related to hormonal changes in my skin or if it's just my own scatter-brained tendencies - I get much more spacey and less able to concentrate during my period.)
Dupree's recipe calls for an ungodly amount of flour and makes way too many biscuits. I tried to cut it in half, which seemed to work okay. This is the whole recipe.
Nathalie Dupree's recipe for Angel Biscuits
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
3 tbsp warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
7 cups all-purpose or cake flour
1 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups buttermilk
Dissolve the yeast and a pinch of the sugar in the warm water. Into a large bowl, sift the baking soda, baking powder, salt and the remainder of the sugar, with 6 cups of the flour. Cut the shortening into the dry ingredients with 2 forks, a pastry cutter, or your fingers until the size of garden peas. Add the yeast mixture to the buttermilk and stir into the flour mixture until all the flour is barely moistened to make a sticky dough. Cover with the plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to a week before using. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place about 1 cup additional flour on the work surface. Place the sticky dough on top of the flour and sprinkle with more flour. Pat out into a round 1/3 inch thick and then fold over to a height of 2/3 inch. Using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter, cut out the biscuits. If you desire a 1 1/2 inch round, make the dough thinner - a total of 1/2 inch. Place the biscuits, their sides touching, on the baking sheet. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until lightly tinged with brown.
Bad's Grandmother's Angel Biscuits
1 pkg dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
3/4 cup shortening
5 cup self-rising flour
2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp soda
3 tbsp sugar
Dissolve yeast in warm water. Cut the shortening into the flour. Combine buttermilk and soda. Add buttermilk, sugar and yeast to flour. Place in airtight container and refrigerate. Take out as much as needed at a time and make into biscuit by rolling on floured board and cutting with a biscuit cutter (After cutting out the biscuits she always folded them over once into a half-moon. This makes a great little shape for small turkey sandwiches on the day after Thanksgiving.) - keep balance in refrigerator and use as needed. Will keep several days. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Makes 5 dozen.
Speaking of flour and baking, that reminds me that I've been playing around with the recipe for Pumpkin Puffs. I like them better with only 2 cups of flour instead of 2 1/2 cups. They are more moist (though they are fine both ways). Jake is a big fan of these cookies, so she gives me lots of opportunity to fine tune the recipe.
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