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Buttermilk Biscuits
Sift a quart of flour, add a tablespoon of lard, half a teaspoon of salt, one teaspoon of soda, sour buttermilk to make soft dough, roll thin, cut into biscuits, and bake in a very quick oven.
A four-line formula from the era when a cook was expected to judge dough by feel. The proportions work, but two of them need translating and one needs a decision from you.
- A quart of flourFlour was measured by volume in a quart measure: about 4 cups, conventionally reckoned at roughly a pound (400-450 g), though sifted flour varies. Sift first, as directed, then measure, or you will end up with noticeably more flour than intended.
- "Very quick oven"450-475F. Biscuits leavened with soda alone need high heat to set the crust before the gas escapes; a moderate oven gives you pale, flat discs.
- How much buttermilkThe recipe gives no quantity, which is normal in formulas of this brevity, and flours absorb differently in any case. Expect 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups for a quart of flour. Add it all at once and mix only until the dough holds together — it should be soft and slightly tacky, not smooth.
- Sour buttermilkOld-style buttermilk was the acidic liquid left from churning butter and was genuinely sour. Modern cultured buttermilk is the closest equivalent and works directly. Sweet milk will not react with the soda; if you have none, soured milk (milk plus a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice per cup) will do.
- Only a tablespoon of lardThis is a very lean biscuit by current standards — closer to a soda scone than to the butter-heavy biscuits of modern recipes. Rubbing in 3 to 4 tablespoons of cold lard or butter gives a more tender crumb, but the original is not a mistake; it is a thrifty everyday bread.
- "Roll thin"Taken literally, about 1/4 inch, which produces crisp, cracker-like biscuits. Roll to 1/2 to 3/4 inch if you want the tall, soft biscuit most people now expect, and add a few minutes to the bake.
- Handle onceSoda begins working the moment it meets the buttermilk. Pat or roll the dough out once, cut, and get the pan into the hot oven without delay; rerolled scraps will be tough and will rise less.
- Yield and timingAbout 18 to 24 thin biscuits from a quart of flour, baked 8 to 10 minutes at 450F until the tops are freckled brown. Thicker ones need 12 to 15 minutes.
Soda-and-sour-milk breads work on the same principle as recipes made with commercial baking powder: a chemical leavener acting fast, with no waiting for yeast. Buttermilk here means the real byproduct of churning, a liquid every household with a butter churn had in quantity and no reason to waste — its acidity does the work that cream of tartar does in a tin of baking powder. The instruction to roll thin is worth noticing, since it reflects an older and flatter biscuit than the fluffy version that became standard once soft winter-wheat flours and richer shortening proportions spread through Southern cookbooks in the twentieth century.