Biscuit dough is perhaps the most capricious of all. Unlike other types of dough, it requires increased attention at all stages of preparation, from the selection of products to the impregnation of the cakes, while observing all the nuances still does not guarantee an ideal result. But there are several recommendations that will help you avoid mistakes, they will be useful to you, regardless of which version of the biscuit recipe you choose.
Quite controversial advice about the exact proportions to take the ingredients for the biscuit. One of the traditional:
– 4 eggs, – 100 g flour, – 150 g sugar.
Alternatively: – 5 eggs, – 200 g sugar, – ¾ cup flour, – ¼ cup potato starch.
The third option: – 5 eggs, – 6 tablespoons of flour, – 5 tablespoons of sugar, – a tablespoon of starch, – a pinch of salt.
There are other options, and each author of the recipe claims that it is this proportion that is ideal. The fact is that it is ideal for specific products and specific ovens. Therefore, whatever one may say, to make your perfect biscuit, you will have to make several attempts – try different recipes and find out which one is right for you. A biscuit is always a trial and error path.
But there are general recommendations as well. The food should be the freshest you can find, so look at the egg production date. It’s great if you have the opportunity to purchase eggs from producers – at farm stalls, for example. All food, as well as utensils, including the baking dish, must be refrigerated. In addition, the dishes must be perfectly clean and dry – no droplets of water or grease. Even one drop of fat can ruin your biscuit.
In the preparation of homemade biscuits, the main condition is accuracy and precision. At each stage of work, you must make every effort to ensure that the dough is as airy as possible. Sift flour and starch several times so that they are saturated with air, use a mixer to beat the eggs, but not a closed blender.
Separate the whites from the yolks very carefully: a drop of yolk will spoil the lush white foam.
Whites with sugar and egg yolks with salt are whipped separately. Flour and starch are first gently mixed with the yolk mass, and then whipped with sugar whites are carefully added – in a tablespoon, while the dough must be very carefully mixed, as if shifting the mass.
Remember that by the time the dough is kneaded, the oven should already be heated to 180 degrees. Grease the form with butter and line with parchment paper.
You should not sprinkle baking dishes with flour, cereals, grains and everything else that is advised in some recipes. It will only spoil the taste of the dough.
The baking time of homemade biscuit varies: for a thin biscuit roll, it can be 10 minutes, and for a thick cake, it can be up to 40 minutes. In any case, at first, the oven should never be opened: the biscuit will inevitably turn into a cake.
You need to get the finished biscuit out of the mold right away (it is better if it is detachable), but you are unlikely to be able to cut it. Leave it for at least 8 hours, or better put it in the refrigerator overnight, then in the morning it will easily be cut into thinner cakes, from which you can assemble a cake.
Do not make too liquid impregnations for the biscuit: the dough will get wet and tasteless. It is better to use fluffy creams or jams.
Remember that the perfect biscuit almost never bakes on the first try, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t get what you wanted. Just try again.