This week’s Tuesdays with Dorie recipe comes from Baking with Dorie. Blueberry Biscuits are not what *I* call biscuits – they are (what I know as) scones. Indeed, for Australians, “biscuits” means what North Americans call “cookies”.
Technically a biscuit and a scone are not the same thing though: Bon Appétit claims they are not the same and Food 52 claims that one of the differences between biscuits and scones is that “biscuits are cut with a “biscuit cutter” (round), while the scones are cut into a “classic wedge shape” (triangle) or into sticks.” (what?). They concede that “scones can also be cut into circles or even squares.” Growing up in Australia Nana’s scones were always round (and others were maybe square but never sticks or triangles). Scones contain eggs – sometimes? the BBC Good Food recipe does not though (except for the glaze).
Dorie says:
These yogurt-based biscuits border on cake because they’ve got a little more sugar than most and, more notably, because they’ve got berries stirred into the dough. When baked, the berries’ sweetness and flavor intensify. I like to serve these at breakfast with butter and jam, but they can also make a really good dessert. Sliced and topped with sugared berries and whipped cream, they become a shortcake.
In any case… whatever you call these – scones, biscuits, cake… they taste great! I actually found them to be not sweet at all which I liked because you can sweeten them up with the toppings…
I had a little help with these this week. With Monica visiting Nérac and knowing she likes a kitchen project, we tackled these together…
We had a couple of challenges here:
1. My baking soda was definitely a bit past its prime and
2. My microplane was missing so it was hard to zest the lemon and rub it into the sugar properly.
This resulted in:
1. Flat biscuits (but no less tasty!)
2. Not as lemony a taste as I’d have wanted here.
No matter, we soldiered on!
(requisite photo of someone taking a photo of their food!)
These baked up beautifully but, despite the fact that I didn’t handle the dough very much and was very light-handed, they did not rise much 🙁 Definitely a baking soda issue (it’s hard to get in France and I need to bring fresh stuff next time I come!). NO MATTER though because they TASTED fabulous. We liked that they were not too sweet, noted that they needed salted butter (I used unsalted in the recipe becasuse that’s what I had to bake with but used this butter to top it with (the BEST!).
Monica also had the brilliant idea to top one half with crème fraîche and macerated raspberries which was just inspired!
These worked well spread with butter and jam too – a nice change from French pastries (yes, I said what I said!). They are versatile as a dessert too – ice cream, pouring cream fresh fruit – the possibilities are endless!
Get the recipe for Blueberry Biscuits on p 49 of Baking with Dorie or here.
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Oh such yummy toppings!
Oh, I love all these photos, feels like I’m right there doing it with you in one of your classes. Very pretty. Interesting about the differences and that you have to bring baking powder with you from Canada next time. As for the comparison to French Pastries, I should be so lucky as to be able to even think a comment like that…enjoying all your photos on IG from your trip. Fabulous, thank you for sharing it all.
It’s always challenging to cook in different kitchens, let alone countries! In spite of everything, I’m glad they tasted great.
I like how they are exploding with berries! and I’ll never not laugh when I read that bit about scones shaped like sticks. 🙂
The more bake biscuits and scones, the less certain I’m about what I call them. Whatever the case, the key is the enjoyment in savoring them. The one with load of butter is catching my fancy!
I loved the information on biscuits and scones, they are different. I hope you are enjoying your time in France. We loved these scones.