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Orange Honey Biscuits
Juice 2 oranges grated rind 1 orange 3/4 cup sugar 1 tablespoon shortening 1 egg yolk 1/4 cup grated pecans 1 tablespoon cornstarch Cook together in double boiler till thick as honey. Spread over baking powder biscuit dough, rolled 1/4 inch thick. Roll up like jelly roll, and roll in wax paper. Set away in refrigerator until ready for the meal. Then cut in slices like jelly roll, sprinkle with the sugar and bake in hot oven 12 minutes. Add the nuts immediately after taking from oven, or add to cooked mixture, whichever preferred.
A refrigerator pinwheel: a thick orange curd rolled into biscuit dough, chilled as a log, then sliced and baked at the last minute. The filling is the part that needs attention.
- Hot ovenIn cookbooks of this period "hot oven" is generally taken to mean about 400–450F. Twelve minutes at the top of that range suits thin slices; check at nine, since the sugar in the filling browns fast.
- The filling is a curd, not a syrupOne egg yolk plus cornstarch over simmering water sets quickly. Keep the water below a boil and stir constantly, or the yolk will scramble into threads. "Thick as honey" means it mounds on the spoon and does not run back level.
- Cool before spreadingThe recipe does not say so, but the cooked mixture must be cold before it touches the dough. Warm filling melts the shortening in the biscuit dough and the roll will not slice.
- Biscuit dough quantityNo amount is given. The filling here is enough for a dough made with about 2 cups flour, rolled to roughly 9 by 12 inches at the specified 1/4 inch.
- Grated pecans"grated" here most likely means finely ground on a rotary nut grater rather than chopped, closer to a coarse meal. If they go into the filling, fold them in off the heat.
- Sugar for the topsThe instruction "sprinkle with the sugar" is ambiguous, since the only sugar listed is the 3/4 cup cooked into the filling. Reserve a separate tablespoon or two of granulated sugar for the cut slices.
- Chilling and slicingAn hour in the refrigerator firms the log enough to cut; longer is better. Use a thin sharp knife and cut about 3/4 inch thick, wiping the blade between slices. Do not hold the raw log more than a day — the baking powder loses lift.
- YieldAbout 12 to 14 pinwheels. Bake them cut side up on a parchment-lined sheet, spaced well apart, as the filling weeps a little.