DIVISION TWELVE
QUICK BREADS: SOFT DOUGHS
LESSON CXXVIII
METHOD OF MIXING FAT IN QUICK BREADS—DROP BISCUIT
MIXING FAT.—What method is used in mixing the fat in all batter quick breads (see previous lessons on Batters)?
In making quick breads, it is desirable to mix all ingredients thoroughly. Fat is mixed in a quick bread most easily and thoroughly by melting it and stirring it into the other ingredients, provided only that the quick bread mixture is thin, i.e. a batter.
When the quick bread is a stiff mixture, i.e. a dough, this method of mixing the fat is not considered satisfactory, although it has been found that biscuits of good quality can be made by adding melted fat, provided the dough is beaten thoroughly. Fat is usually added to doughs by working it, in solid form, into the dry ingredients, either with a knife or with the fingers. (In which method of mixing—with the knife or with the fingers—can the mixture be kept cooler? Which is the cleaner method?) If the fingers are used for mixing the fat, it is well to work it into the flour with the tips of the fingers rather than to rub the ingredients between the palms of the hands.
SOFT DOUGHS.—Doughs are most easily mixed by using a knife instead of a spoon. A soft dough contains approximately three parts of flour to one part of moisture. Baking Powder Biscuit is a typical soft dough mixture.
DROP BISCUITS
2 cupfuls flour 4 teaspoonfuls baking powder 1/2 teaspoonful salt 2 tablespoonfuls fat Milk or water, about 3/4 cupful
Mix the dry ingredients; then work the fat into the mixture with the tips of the fingers, or cut it in thoroughly with a knife. With a knife mix the liquid with the dry ingredients. The mixture is of proper consistency when it may be dropped from the spoon without spreading. Drop by spoonfuls on an oiled pan, or into oiled muffin tins. Bake in a hot oven (475 degrees F.) from 12 to 15 minutes.
FRUIT PUDDING
Place sliced fruit—fresh, canned, or dried—in an oiled baking-dish. Cover the fruit with a biscuit mixture, made by using the ingredients in the same proportion as for Drop Biscuits. Two or three times as much fat as the given quantity may be used. Bake until the fruit is tender and the batter is firm and brown, usually from 15 to 30 minutes. Serve with cream or fruit sauce. Plain cream may be used, or the cream may be whipped, or sweetened and flavored with a little nutmeg or vanilla.
WHIPPED CREAM SAUCE
1 cupful whipped cream 1 egg white 1/3 cupful powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoonful vanilla
Chill the cream; add the unbeaten egg; then beat with an egg beater (for method of whipping cream see Lesson XLVIII). Add the sugar and vanilla.