I met Shirley Corriher. We both ended up in an airport in Charleston, South Carolina at the same time, in the same waiting area. My luck. Like a star struck teenager I kept secretively glancing in her direction hoping to garner enough courage to sneak over for an introduction. I may have even had a racing heart and shallow breathing.
Shirley Corriher, I felt, had more knowledge about the science of cooking in her little finger than I had in my whole body. I had watched her for ages on the Food Network and was always amazed at how she dissected the hows and whys of baking science into terms even a novice like myself could understand. She was the Einstein of food science. And she was a real hoot to talk with. So funny and genuine.
Summoning all of the courage I could muster, I introduced myself. Rather than just pleasantly greeting me and moving on, she asked me to sit “for a spell” and visit. She asked all about me before I could even begin to gush all over her with accolades of adoration. She was friendly. She was genuine. She was approachable. I was mesmerized.
If I had had my teenage autograph hound (some of you will remember those), I would have asked her to sign it. Instead, much like rock stars whip out their glamour photos, she whipped out a copy of her famous Touch of Grace Biscuits and signed it for me. And some day I hope to recover that little piece of paper. I know I have it, but after a few moves…Well, you know. Fortunately, I submitted the recipe to our church’s Bountiful Blessings cookbook a few years ago so I still have the recipe.
These biscuits are favorites, but not just because I remain star struck. They are just downright delicious any way you want to serve them. Trust me.
And, of course, you can watch Shirley herself prepare it in this video:
Watch for me on THV11 this Wednesday, September 24 where I’ll be talking all things biscuit for National Biscuit Month.
Photo Source: James Beard Foundation
- Butter for greasing, or nonstick cooking spray
- 2 cups spooned and leveled self-rising flour (preferably White Lily)
- 1/4 cup sugar (or less, if you prefer your biscuits less sweet)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 cup shortening, chilled
- 2/3 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup buttermilk, or enough for dough to resemble cottage cheese (if you are not using low-protein flour, it will take more than 1 cup)
- 1 cup plain all-purpose flour, for shaping
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for brushing
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Butter an 8 or 9-inch round cake pan or spray with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the self-rising flour, sugar, and salt.
- Work the shortening in with your fingers until there are no large lumps.
- Gently stir in the cream, then some of the buttermilk until dough resembles wet cottage cheese. It should be a wet mess -- not soup, but cottage-cheese texture
- If you are not using a low-protein flour, this may take considerably more than 1 cup of buttermilk.
- Spread the plain all-purpose flour (not self-rising) out on a plate or pie pan. With a medium ice cream scoop or spoon, place three or four scoops of dough well apart in the flour; prinkle flour over each.
- Flour your hands and turn a dough ball in the flour to coat; pick it up and gently shape it into a round, shaking off the excess flour as you work
- Place this biscuit in the prepared pan
- Coat each dough ball in the same way and place each shaped biscuit scrunched up against its neighbor so that the biscuits rise up and don't spread out.
- Continue scooping and shaping until all dough is used.
- Bake until lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes. Brush with the melted butter.
- Cut between biscuits to make them easy to remove. Serve immediately with butter.
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- Note: Do not use self-rising flour for shaping, as it will give a bitter taste to the outside of the biscuits
- According to Corriher regarding White Lily Flour, “All you have to do is take a little bit in your hand and take some all-purpose flour in the other hand and just look at it. “There’s an incredible difference. It’s much, much finer, much whiter and much silkier. You’re going to get a finer textured cake.”
What a fun story! Hope you had fun this morning on the TV show 🙂
Thanks Jamie. It was fun…a little early but fun:) Thanks for commenting.
I think you need to start a biscuit delivery service
There are reasons I don’t operate a restaurant or catering company!!! They have to get up waaay too early and have to work toooooooooo hard! Thanks for stopping by.
Shirley’s technique using very wet dough (looks like cottage cheese) revolutionized the way I cook biscuits. I have also varied the classic recipe above by omitting the cream and increasing the buttermilk. These are delicious too! We bakers owe so much to Shirley!
Absolutely!
In Texas we don’t like sugar in our biscuits much. So…I followed Shirley’s technique but:
greased cake pan with liquid corn oil, sides and bottom.
Two cups of White Lilly Self-Rising Flour
Four tablespoons of Crisco
One cup of buttermilk
Quarter cup of cream
quarter teaspoon of salt
Continue following Shirley’s technique and cook as she directs or as indicated above by Debbie. They came out of the oven and first bite…heavenly! I will dub these “Shirley’s Texas Biscuits!” 🙂
I’ll definitely give your version a try. I’m all about a really good biscuit. Thanks for stopping by.
These are truly delicious! Even when they’re made in Canada.
Oh my goodness, yes they are:) Thanks for stopping by.