Its a super cute book written by the owners of Back In the Day Bakery in Savannah, Georgia. Of course the title and the cute 1950s vibe of cover caught my attention right away. The owners/authors Cheryl and Griffth Day run a cute little vintage style bakery. The bakery is based on mostly old southern recipes passed down from generations. The book is adorable with colorful photos and easy to follow recipes.
My mother lives in Atlanta so maybe I can persuade her to go on a little road trip to Savannah for a little antiquing/ vintage shopping and EATING. Paula Deen's restaurant is there too and I've been dying to go. Southern food is my weakness.
Anyway, I've had the book in my closet since the summer and forgot about it. It wasn't until cleaning the closet to put the Christmas decorations in their yearly resting spot, that I came upon it again. What better way to break in a cookbook then with a blog post.
I decided to just start with the first recipe and bake the Buttermilk Biscones. They are cross between a scone and a biscuit. The recipe uses two types of flour to get the light and fluffy feel of your grandma's biscuits. Add in a little sugar and dried fruit and you have a "biscone".
They turned out totally yummy and light and fluffy. The recipe was really easy to follow and only took about 45 minutes total to bake from start to finish. I baked mine this morning for breakfast and didn't really have to wake up any earlier than normal to do make them. Give 'em a try!!! You won't be disappointed!!! I had to alter the recipe a little bit. I made a late night trip to the market for the ingredients last night and of course they had NOTHING I needed. I substituted heavy cream for the buttermilk and blueberry Crasins for the dried fruit.Not the healthiest option I know, but I promise it was the only thing that I could find!!!! It still came out yummy. The original recipe called for cardamom but I had to omit that too simply because I forgot to pick it up...oops. Here is the version I made.
What you need:
1 1/2 cups All purpose flour
1 1/2 cups Cake Flour (non self rising)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder (aluminum free)
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
2 sticks COLD unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1cup dried fruit such as currants or sour cherries (optional, I used Blueberry Crasins)
1 1/2 cup heavy cream or whole milk
1 egg beaten for egg wash
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment
In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking powder and sea salt.
Whisk until completely incorporated. Add the butter and cut in with a pastry blender (or you can use two butter knives. Just kind of chop up the butter in the flour mixture). You should have various sized pieces. Some sandy spots in the flour, some pea sized butter chunks and some large butter chunks. Once that's done toss in the fruit if you decide to use. Make sure to actually toss it into the mixture for even distribution.
Gradually pour in the cream and GENTLY fold the ingredients until a soft dough forms and there is no extra bits of flour in the bottom of the bowl. You should still be able to see some lumps of butter in the dough. If the dough seems dry, add a little more milk. The dough should be moist and slightly sticky.
Gently pat the dough down into the bowl like you would a loaf of bread and lightly sprinkle with flour.
Using a large ice cream scoop, scoop mounds of dough onto the parchment lined baking sheet. Be sure to place them about an inch apart because they puff up a little during baking. Gently tap the tops of the biscones to slightly flatten. Brush the tops with the egg wash.
Place in the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. Rotate the pan halfway through for even baking. The biscones should be lightly golden and baked fully. Serve warm or room temperature. They are best eaten the day they are made. The recipe should make around a dozen biscones.
So... here is the finished product
I will be a little candid and tell you that not all of them came out as beautifully as these. My NYC apartment has the smallest kitchen you've ever seen with the worst (and smallest) oven you have ever tried to bake in. New recipes always take a couple of tries to get the oven temp just right. I love our little apartment but it makes baking quite difficult at times
They really come out very light and fluffy and are perfect with coffee or tea!!! Hope you try them and enjoy!!
(This recipe is not my own. It was adapted from the Back In the Day Cookbook. The link takes you to where you can order the book so you can get the real recipe. Cardamom and all!)
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