SUGGESTED AIMS: (1) To learn to work quickly. Note the time required to mix these quick breads. Strive to lessen the number of minutes each time you prepare them.
(2) To use available materials. Use the food-materials you have on hand,— such as sour or sweet milk, left-over cooked cereals, and different kinds of flours or meals.
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.