I found myself with a huge container of sour milk this morning. I had bought two liters when my son was here the other week and hardly any of it got used.
All of the content you see here on this page, both photography and written, are the sole property of The English Kitchen, Marie Rayner. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at mariealicejoan at aol dot com.
They didn't really have cereal or anything, or even coffees in the morning, and I am a person who hardly ever consumes milk at all. I will buy 1 liter and it lasts me a couple weeks unless I am cooking.
So anyways, I had all this sour milk. I knew I would not be able to use all of it up, but I thought I could at least use some of it up so I went on a search for things to do with it that I hadn't tried before.
I have a Sour Milk Chocolate Cake recipe which I make that is excellent eating, but I was not in the mood for a cake just now. We will be eating enough Christmas sweets next week.
The recipe I am sharing with you today I adapted from a page called Nourishing Joy, who adapted from a recipe in the book, Baking at Home by the Culinary Institute of America.
I am not sure if the original recipe used buttermilk or sour milk. but no matter, I am sure both would work the same way. I was very pleased with how these turned out.
As you can see they achieved a really lovely high rise and the texture was beautiful. These were everything a good biscuit should be.
Light and fluffy inside, tall and crisp golden brown on the tops and bottoms. I was really, really happy with them!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SOUR MILK BISCUITS
Just a few simple ingredients are needed. Nothing too extraordinary.
- plain all purpose flour
- baking powder
- salt (I use fine sea salt)
- cold butter (I used salted)
- sour milk (you can also use buttermilk, or I tell you how to sour your own milk)
- whole milk (full fat)
- liquid honey
I know some people can be really intimidated by making biscuits. They may feel that they never turn out for them, and maybe they don't.
I have never had a problem with biscuits, generally speaking, and that's because I follow several rules when I am making them. If you follow these, there is no reason why you shouldn't also achieve biscuit baking success!
First of all sift your dry ingredients together. This helps to make sure that all of the leavening is evenly distributed through the flour. If you are adding sugar or salt, this can get stirred in after you have sifted the flour, etc.
Make sure your fat is cold. Cold fat will not melt as easily as warm fat would when you are rubbing/cutting the fat into the flour.
Also don't cut the fat into the flour until its really fine. Make sure you leave some pea-sized bits of fat throughout. These little bits of fat will melt and leave nice airy little pockets in your finished biscuit!
A light touch is best when mixing up, patting/rolling your biscuits. Over-handling makes for a much tougher result. So do not over mix/pat/roll them out.
When mixing wet ingredients into the butter and dough mixture use a well technique, much like pasta. Depending on the weather, use more or less flour. For humid days use more flour and cut back a bit on dry, hot days.
Bu the well technique I mean make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, and then pour the wet ingredients into the well. Generally speaking I use a fork to mix the two together, taking care not to overmix. Its okay if its a bit lumpy.
Try to work on a cold surface and with cold hands. You don't want to melt the fat with the warmth of your hands, so hand contact should be as little as possible.
When you tip the dough out onto the surface don't over-flour it. A little bit goes a long way. Basically you just want to be able to keep the dough from sticking to the countertop and the rolling pin if you are using one.
Patting out the dough, folding it in half, patting it out again and repeating this process a few times with give you lots of nice airy flaky layers in your biscuits.
About three times should suffice, and then you should be ready to cut your biscuits out. Today I used a 3 inch round metal cutter. Make sure when you are cutting them out you use a sharp up and down tapping motion.
Don't twist the cutter. Twisting can cause your biscuits to be lopsided. You may end up with some that are lopsided anyways, but generally speaking you won't if you employ a sharp tap up and down.
Also, try to get as many cuts out of the first roll/pat out as you can. Any ones cut from the repatted/rolled scraps will not be as nice to look at or rise as high.
They will still taste really good however, and be perfectly edible. They just won't look as pretty! And that's it really. There's no reason why you can't have good biscuits if you employ those hints and tips!
The majority of these have been packed into a freezer bag to take out when my son is visiting over Christmas, but I couldn't help having one myself today. Split and spread with butter with some jam spooned over top.
Oh my but these are some good biscuits. I can give them two thumbs up. I think you are going to really like these! I really do!
Some other biscuit recipes that you might also enjoy are Mile High Greek Yogurt Biscuits, Cinnamon and Jam Biscuits, and Cheddar, Bacon & Chive Biscuits. All are excellent!
Sour Milk Biscuits
Yield: 12
Prep time: 25 MinCook time: 20 MinTotal time: 45 Min
These biscuits are a wonderfully tasty way to use up milk that has gone sour. Alternately you can use buttermilk in the place of the sour milk. They rise like a dream and have a beautiful light texture. Crisp on the outside, fluffy inside.
Ingredients
- 3 cups (420g) all purpose plain flour
- 1 1/2 TBS baking powder (yes this is correct)
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 8 TBS cold butter
- 2/3 cup (180ml) sour milk or buttermilk
- 1/2 cup (120ml) whole milk
- 2 1/2 TBS honey
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400*F/ 200*C/ gas mark 6. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Set aside.
- Sift the flour, salt and baking powder into a bowl. Drop in the butter and cut it in with a pastry blender until you have a mixture resembling small peas. It should also hold together loosely if you press some of it together between your fingers.
- Whisk together the sour milk (buttermilk), whole milk and honey. Add all at once to the dry ingredients and mix together quickly with a fork just to combine into a soft dough. (Don't overmix.)
- Pat out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 1 inch thick. Fold in half, turn and roll out again. Fold in half once more, turn and roll out. Repeat this process several times. You want a final thickness of 1 inch.
- Using a 3 inch sharp round cutter, stamp out rounds, taking care not to twist the cutter. Place onto the baking sheet. Try to get as many rounds as you can from this first cutting.
- Gather the scraps, re-pat and cut as needed, until you have 12 rounds.
- Bake for 15 to 18 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Scoop off onto a wire rack to cool.
Notes
If you are lacking in buttermilk and or sour milk, mix 1/2 cup (120ml) milk with 2 TBS lemon juice and let sit for several minutes until it clabbers.
We are now into the two busiest weeks of December. Those couple of weeks right before Christmas when we have more things to do than we can possibly cope with! (Unless you are really a super-organized person, and I am not!) Its down-to-the-crunch time!!
I thought it would be fun to share with you today some quick and easy Winter Warmer meals guaranteed to get you in and out of the kitchen quickly. There is no need to have to resort to a takeaway for supper (unless you feel like a real treat)!
There is a bit of something here for everyone to enjoy, even the vegetarians in the group! Whatever your leanings, your family is sure to enjoy all of these fabulously tasty, belly-warming options!
HERBED TOMATO AND WHITE CHEDDAR SOUP. This delicious tomato soup is simple and easy enough to enjoy as a lovely light supper, but at the same time rich and flavorful enough to be used as a first course party dish.
Topped with crunchy cheddar croutons it is very easily made for a light family supper, but at the same time it is elegant enough that you wouldn't mind serving it to company.
I like to serve it with some mash or rice. With the exception of a few small prep details, this delicious dish pretty much cooks itself.
SKILLET BRATS & SPUDS This is a deliciously easy pan fry that includes spicy bratwurst, cabbage and potatoes.
Cooked all in a skillet, there is a delicious touch of cream and cheese that tip these simple ingredients over the top into something very special indeed!
PROPER WELSH RAREBIT This very popular supper dish is a lot easier to make than one would suppose! Its surprisingly hearty and quite delicious!
Spooned on slices of bread and grilled to perfection it makes a really tasty supper that works well with a salad on the side or even chips. (French Fries)
You can even make the rarebit mixture ahead of time, spreading it onto the bread and grilling when its time to eat.
TRADITIONAL COTTAGE PIE Whether you make this with leftover roast beef from the Sunday lunch or brown ground beef specially to use, this one is a real family pleaser.
Meat and gravy, plus vegetables baked beneath a lush potato thatch. You can also make this ahead of time, ready to pop into the oven when you are ready to eat.
OVEN BARBEQUED CHICKEN This is so easy to make that I almost hesitate in posting the recipe, but someone might benefit from my posting it. Its always been a family favorite.
Easy. Delicious. Simple. Your family will love it. This chicken basically cooks itself leaving your hands free to do other things. And we all know how busy our December days can get!!
SHREDDED BEEF TACOS For this recipe the slow cooker does most of the work so you don't have to!
Fork tender beef that works very well in tacos, and would indeed also be great in burritos or quesadillas. Just throw it into the slow cooker in the morning and let it do all the work.
Take the meat out and shred it, warm some tortillas, put out the taco toppings and you are good to go!
CROCK POT CHICKEN & STUFFING No fuss, no muss and totally delicious. Chicken breasts get layered in the crock pot with a few other bits, the end result being something the whole family will love.
Your sides can be a simple or as complicated as you choose. I like to have some vegetables and potato with this, but its great even on its own with nothing else! Its just plain delicious!
CHILI DOG SAUCE This fabulously tasty sauce can be made well ahead, ready to warm up when you are ready to eat! It does make quite a bit, but freezes really well.
You can also warm up the leftovers with some cut up hotdogs and ladle them over oven chips for a stress-free mid-week Chili Dog Poutine that everyone will love!
SCRAMBLED EGGS BENEDICT Why not have breakfast for supper!!! If you use convenience ingredients like a ready made hollandaise sauce, this goes together very quickly.
Toasty muffins, topped with back bacon, scrambled eggs and that lush benedict sauce.
It tastes and looks like you spent all day, but is so easy. Who knew elegant could be so simple to do!
FAJITA CHICKEN BAKE Simple, quick to make, and a fairly delicious way to get in some of your five a day. I like to serve it with rice. Its a bit spicy so adjust accordingly.
If you can layer things in a casserole, then you can make this simple, family friendly dish!
VEGETABLE STEW WITH CHEESE PUFF DUMPLINGS Not a scrap of meat in site but I promise you that you will not miss it. This will have everyone scrambling for seconds!
Comforting, rib sticking, tasty and hearty. What more could you ask for. Dumplings! Oh yeah!!
A bit of crusty bread on the side and Bob's your Uncle. The fact that it's quick and simple and family pleasing just means that this is the perfect weeknight super!
LAYERED RAVIOLI BAKE Quick, simple and quite delicious. You will love this easy casserole.
Fresh Ravioli pasta layered in a baking dish with a simple meat sauce and cheese. What's not to love about the easy of this one! A salad and some garlic bread on the side and you're in like Flynn!!
CROCK POT SAUERKRAUT SOUP I've saved the best for last! This is so simple to make. If you can bang everything into a pot, then you can make this, because . . . that's all it really involves!
This is a delicious soup which is easy to make and leaves your hands free and available to get on with other things. It makes a perfect supper when served with some crusty rolls.
So there you have it! A delicious round up of tasty possibilities designed to get you in and out of the kitchen quickly without a lot of fuss over these next few weeks! Enjoy! (I know I will!!)
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
Waffles were not something which I had ever eaten as a child. Oh, sure, there used to be those frozen ones with the commercials on the telly, but they were never anything my mom ever bought for us.
Waffles were considered exotic food.
I did buy the frozen ones for my children, and for years and years that was my only experience with them, other than occasionally being treated to Belgian Waffles for breakfast at a restaurant.
Then when I was much older, and living in the UK, I treated myself to an electric waffle maker. I fell in love with it and we had waffles fairly often. Both savory and sweet.
The other day I went into Home Hardware to buy some salt for my steps and a snow brush for the car. I saw this little snowflake waffle machine which was on offer.
What can I say? I fell to the power of suggestion and one came home with me.
It so cute! Isn't that snowflake adorable. It makes small waffles, each about 3 1/2 inches across I am thinking.
I was so looking forward to making snowflake waffles for my grandsons for breakfast when they are here at Christmas time. Can you tell I am a bit excited about that? 😁 Its a first for me!
I decided to do a test run with it this morning and make myself some snicker doodle waffles. I used a recipe which came in the little instruction booklet.
I think its a smart thing to do. To use a recipe that comes with something the first time you use it. Just so you can test it and iron out any and all wrinkles.
I was actually really surprised at how nice they turned out. This little machine worked like a little pro. Nothing stuck and my waffles were lovely and light.
Nice and crisp on the outside, light and fluffy inside. And with perfect snowflake indentations on one side! Color me impressed!
I can't wait to do the Grandma thing and serve these to my grandsons! I hope that they will like them. Maybe not the snicker doodle ones, but some kind of waffles at any rate.
What child would not like a snowflake waffle! No matter the flavor!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SNICKERDOODLE WAFFLES
Other than the waffle machine you probably have everything you need in your kitchen right now!
- all purpose plain flour
- sugar
- salt (I use fine sea salt)
- milk (I use whole milk)
- butter (I use salted and cut back on the salt in the recipe)
- ground cinnamon
- eggs (I use large free range)
- cream of tartar (I did not have any but used a substitution, see recipe notes)
I almost didn't make them because when I read the recipe I saw that I needed Cream of Tartar. I don't have any in the house and keep forgetting to buy any.
I decided to go online and see if there was anything I could substitute for cream of tartar and discovered that you can use vinegar or lemon juice. Problem solved!
HOW TO MAKE SNICKERDOODLE WAFFLES
With a waffle machine these are really easy to make. I was surprised. Some recipes I have used in the past you had to beat the egg whites separately and fold them into the batter.
This recipe was very straightforward and everything went together very quickly. I was cooking these little babies before I could say jack rabbit!
I made the cinnamon sugar that you need to dust the finished waffles with first. Very simple. Just whisk some sugar and cinnamon together!
I did the flour mixture next. I sifted the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into a bowl to make sure all of the baking powder was evenly distributed.
You need to warm the milk and butter together just enough to melt the butter. I did this in the microwave actually, but you could do it in a saucepan. Don't let it get too hot, or you will be waiting for it to cool down enough so that you can add it to the eggs, etc.
Beat the eggs and vanilla together in a bowl, then beat in the milk and butter. (Make sure they are only lukewarm) Do make sure everything is well amalgamated.
Once you have done that you start beating in the dry ingredients. I used a whisk and did it by hand. In three lots, making sure all of the dry ingredients were well beaten in before I added more.
If you are using vinegar/lemon instead of cream of tartar, add it with the milk/eggs.
And that was it. Batter done I was ready to start baking my waffles. I got quite a few, more than the recipe stated, perhaps 8 - 10 refers to larger waffles. I reckon I got at least 16. I froze the leftovers, with some baking paper in between. I think they will be great popped into the toaster for quick breakfasts.
I enjoyed these today with some fresh fruit and maple syrup. It was a really delicious breakfast to say the least!
This content (written and photography) is the sole property of The English Kitchen. Any reposting or misuse is not permitted. If you are reading this elsewhere, please know that it is stolen content and you may report it to me at: mariealicejoan at aol dot com Thanks so much for visiting. Do come again!
I confess to holding a certain fondness for peanut butter in any way shape or form. It has ever been so. I have been known to eat it from the jar with a spoon.
I especially enjoy it in baked goods. Cakes, cookies, bars, etc. This recipe which I am sharing with you today had been adapted from the book, Snacking Cakes by Yossi Arefi, and it is a particularly good snacking cake!
I really love snack cakes. Especially now that there is only one of me in my house. Most snack cakes are of a manageable size, and even so I do give half of them away to friends and family.
I shared two third of this lovely cake with two separate neighbors with a double thumbs up from each household! No complaints were forthcoming!
And I am not surprised. It is a particularly lovely cake. Nice and moist with a beautiful crumb due to the buttermilk in the cake batter.
Flavored beautifully with peanut butter and brown sugar. The brown sugar also adds to the moist crumb of this cake.
That beautiful salted caramel frosting on the top is its crowning glory. It is very similar to the old school Penuche frosting.
It is fudgy and rich and if a fabulous match for this sweet and salty cake! You can sprinkle the top with some sea salt flakes. I was able to bring a large tub of Malden Sea Salt over with me last year, and it was beautiful sprinkled on top of this cake.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE SALTED CARAMEL PEANUT BUTTER SNACK CAKE
Simple store cupboard ingredients put together in a most delicious way.
For the cake:
- soft light brown sugar (you could also use light muscovado brown sugar)
- large eggs (I only use free range)
- smooth peanut butter (I used Kraft, but Skippy would also be great!)
- buttermilk (well shaken)
- canola oil
- vanilla (I use pure vanilla extract)
- salt
- all purpose plain flour
- baking powder
- baking soda
For the frosting:
- butter (unsalted is specified in the recipe, but I used plain salted)
- soft light brown sugar (again you could use light muscovado)
- heavy cream
- water
- salt
- icing sugar (also known as confectioners or powdered)
- flaky salt to finish (optional)
And that icing on top, well, perfection. Pure and utter perfection. Rich and fudgy.
Yossi does specifically tell you not to use natural peanut butter. She recommends only commercial peanut butters, such as Skippy or Kraft.
Apparently natural peanut butters make the cake too oily. I used Kraft because that is what I have here where I live. I can no longer get Skippy. I love Skippy peanut butter most of all.
HOW TO MAKE SALTED CARAMEL PEANUT BUTTER SNACK CAKE
Snack cakes are some of the easiest cakes to make. You begin by prepping your pan and preheating the oven. I buttered the cake tin (an 8 inch square tin) and then lined it with a piece of baking paper.
I used an 8-inch wide strip, lining two opposite sides only, leaving two sides bare. If your pan is well buttered this is okay. You want to leave an overhang of paper so that you can easily lift the cake out when done.
Its best to have your cake pans ready to go when you are making a batter with buttermilk. Buttermilk reacts almost instantly with baking soda, giving you lift and the heat from the oven also adds to the chemical reaction which takes place.
Its best to have buttermilk batters into the pan and in the oven as quickly as possible so that you can take full advantage of that process, so having your pan ready to go first is ideal.
Using an electric whisk beat the eggs and sugar together until light and foamy. This helps to melt the sugar somewhat. You then beat in the buttermilk, oil, vanilla and salt. Beat to emulsify the ingredients completely.
I like to sift my flour, soda and baking powder together so that the soda and BP are evenly mixed into the flour. This mixture then gets whisked into the wet ingredients until you have a smooth, evenly mixed batter.
Pour the batter into your prepped cake tin and tap it lightly on the counter top a few times to help release any air bubbles that may be trapped.
You don't want bit holes in your cake. Once you have done that, pop it into the oven and bake. The recipe says to bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Mine was done closer to 30 minutes, so do check. You don't want to over bake the cake and dry it out.
Leave to cool in the tin for 15 minutes before you lift it out onto a wire rack to cool completely. You can then make the frosting, which is really easy to do.
Combine all of the frosting ingredients, with the exception of the icing sugar, in a sauce pan and allow them to melt and come to a full rolling boil. Boil for three minutes and then remove from the heat.
Let cool for three minutes, stirring once or twice and then stir in the icing sugar until smooth and thickened somewhat. Spread over top of the cooled cake and sprinkle some flaked sea salt on top, if using.
This is a really fabulous cake. Rich and delicious. Moist. Nice and peanut-buttery.
That frosting is delicious and both together are amazing. Perfect with a hot cuppa or an ice cold glass of milk. You could even serve squares of this cake with a scoop of ice cream on top. Yummy!!
This cake can also be baked in a 9 inch round tin (35 to 45 minutes), or in a loaf tin (50 to 60 minutes.)
Some other peanut butter cakes which I really enjoy are Glazed Peanut Butter and Jelly Cake, Peanut Butter and Banana Cake, and Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Brownie Torte.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Social Icons