Thomas Jefferson's Sweet Potato Biscuits
Description:
Copyright c 2003 by James Villas.
Reprinted from Biscuit Bliss with permission
from The Harvard Common Press.
Makes about 1 dozen biscuits
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup chilled lard, cut into pieces
- 1 cup cooked, peeled, mashed, and cooled sweet potato
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a baking sheet and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, spices, and salt. Add the lard and cut it in with a pastry cutter till the mixture is crumbly. Add the sweet potato and stir till well blended. Add the cream and pecans and stir till the dough is just moist.
3. Transfer to a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 1/2 inches thick, and cut out rounds with a 2-inch biscuit cutter. Roll the scraps together and cut out more rounds.
4. Arrange the rounds on the prepared baking sheet about 1 inch apart and bake in center of the oven till golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes.
Serve warm or let cool on a wire rack.
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