As a nation we approve of hot-breads, and most of all at the breakfast-table. And while we eat and enjoy them, we have the satisfaction of knowing that American methods and American cookery have made them healthful as well as appetizing and nutritious.
And of all the breakfast foods, nothing is so appetizing, so appetite-whetting, so always dependable, so satisfying, as the light, flaky, hot biscuit, with a crisp, brown crust, just from the oven, broken apart without use of knife, and spread with butter; or, to top off the meal, with honey, jam, or marmalade.
The very simplicity of the methods of making and the familiar, every-day use of this little hot bread-morsel have, however, sometimes led to lack of care in its preparation, so that we too seldom find it in perfection upon our tables.
It is the object of this chapter to stimulate an interest in and awaken a love for this most healthful and economical of our purely American foods, so that it will be found, as it deserves to be, a prominent part of every day’s food in every household.
With a basis of flour, salt, and Royal Baking Powder, we can add other ingredients to vary and enrich the cakes and biscuits generally known to the housewife, and produce in almost endless variety breakfast and luncheon foods that shall be dainty and delicious or substantial and hearty.
Are eggs scarce and high, does too much shortening disagree with some member of the family, Royal Baking Powder permits the lessening of both or either of these ingredients, without impairing the delicacy or digestibility of the finished biscuit.
Royal Baking Powder is pure and healthful, and its use in excess can produce no harm; yet for cooking results it is best to be guided by the quantity specified in the receipts. Baking powder could be added until a dry, powdery biscuit resulted.
The mixing of the baking powder, flour, and other dry ingredients should be thorough. This is imperative if a delicate, evenly leavened biscuit is wanted. The other ingredients can then be added, following the special directions as given in each receipt.
In using shortening for biscuits, especially through the winter season, with some limitation, good, sweet home-made lard may take the place of butter. Butter will color slightly yellow; lard will whiten the biscuits. This substitution will not do when considerable shortening is called for, as in cake; but in receipts where the quantity does not exceed 2 ounces or tablespoons to the quart of flour, butter may, in the majority of cases, be replaced by lard without impairing the taste.
Biscuits are mixed to a soft dough, which is turned out, patted down or rolled to a proper thickness, and then cut out and baked. From long experience it has been found that the result is much better and the food more digestible when the finished biscuit is small and not too thick. The scientific reason for this is that the oven heat necessary for biscuit, if they are made very large, will brown the outside before the center is as thoroughly baked as it ought to be. The dough should be rolled out until ½ inch thick; the biscuits should be of medium size,—2 inches or less across,—and placed slightly apart in the pans. A favorite cutter of expert biscuit-makers is the open end (not the cover) of a ¼-pound Royal Baking Powder can. A good oven heat will bake the biscuit perfectly in from 15 to 20 minutes, and even a dyspeptic can eat them without fear of consequences. The biscuit may, of course, be made thicker or thinner, as more or less of the soft inside part may be preferred, but the time of baking must be regulated accordingly.