BISCUITS

2.1 IN1 AODUCTION

Biscuit is'one of the most important snack terms used in an average
household. We cannot think of tea without biscuits. A normal mom-
ing or aftemoon tea is generally accompanied by plain biscuits
whereas a high tea (i.e. a formal tea party) would include fancy
biscuits like cream crackers, coconut cookies etc. A lot of different
varieties of biscuits are being produced by large scale manufacturers
with automatic plants, where biscuits are packaged and distributed
within a short time of leaving the oven. But even in this era of large
scale production some special varities of biscuits are still produced
.by small bakers. The finer points of making delicious biscuits at home
are discussed here.

2.2 OBJECTIVES
After reading this lesson, you will able to :
• classify biscuits on basis of method of preparation;
• describe the procedure of baking different kinds of biscuits;
• evolve and follow appropriate recipes for baking various types of
biscuits;
• identify the faults that can arise if appropriate procedures are not
followed and give suggestions for rectification.

2.3 CLASSIFICATION OF BISCUITS

The taste and crispness of a biscuit .depends upon the raw material
used and the method of making. Depending upon these two factors,
we can broadly divide the biscuits into the following categories
Biscuits made from :

1. pastry dough
2. creamed dough
3. egg white mixture
4. whisked egg dough
5. doughs rich in honey and other sugar syrups.
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2.4 BISCUITS MADE FROM PASTRY DOUGH

We can make both sweet and savoury biscuits from this dough. Two
basic pastry doughs can be used for making biscuits-short crust
dough and puff dough. We are going to leam the making of short
crust dough in this chapter. Puff dough, which requires a consider-
able amount of skill and finese, will be discused later in a detailed
chapter on various pastries.
The Short Crust Dough - This basically consists of flour, fat, and
a moistening liquid. Flour provides the bulk and fat contributes
tendemess or shortness to the biscuit. Sugar and egg, if included in
the recipes, produce richer products i.e. sweeter and better baste.
The special points to be taken care of while producing good short
crust biscuits are :
1. Keep ingredients cool.
2. Work in a cool area
3. Handle the ingredients as little~ as possible as this results in
rougher biscuits.
4. Too much handling of dough also results in fat becoming oily
which is not desirable .
. 5. Use ice cold water for binding the ingredients. Do not add too
much water.
6. Before rolling, chill the dough in a freezer so that butter becomes
firm. The restring period also relaxes the gluten in the flour thus
making the dough less elastic and easier to roll.

(A) JAM TARTS

The ingredients:

For Short crust paste

Flour 120g
Margerine 60g
Baking Powder 1/4 tea spoon
Castor Sugar 10g
For Filling

Jam - 60g
The Method

1. Sieve flour and baking powder in a thali/tray.

 BISCUITS:: 19

2. Cut the margerine into small pieces with a palette knife and rub
it lightly with the finger tips until it resembles bread-crumbs.
3. Add castor sugar and mix lightly.
4. Sprinkle Ice cold water a little at a time and make soft dough
without kneading. Work in a cool area to avoid fat from melting.
5. Dust the clean marble top with flour and roll the dough lightly to
1/4" thickness.
6. Cut the dough with a biscuit cutter which is of the same size as
the tart mould.
7. Prick each tart with a match-stick/fork to make some small
holes. This will prevent the tarts from puffing during baking.
8. Line the tart moulds with some fat and dust with flour.
9. Fill each tart with jam upto 2/3 level.
10. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C f~r 12 minutes. When
golden brown, remove from the oven and coolon a cooling rack.
Garnishing - Refers to decoration. Roll out a small ball of the short
crust paste thinly, cut into thin strips. Place a twist of this strip on top
of the jam and place half a cherry on the top.

(B) R CH BISCUiTS
The ingredients: \
Flour - 250g
Icing Sugar - 100g
Butter - 125g
Salt - Y2 tea spoon
Baking Powder - Y2 tea spoon
Egg - 1
Vanilla essence - Y2 tea spoon
or grated lemon rind - 1 tea spoon
For egg and caramel glaze
Egg yolk of 2, eggs, sugar - 20g, water - 2.5 rnl.
Method:
1. Sieve the flour, salt and baking powder and put into a mixing /
bowl.
2.
3.
Add icing sugar and butter cut into small cubes.
With your finger tips, rub the butter into dry ingredients until it is
evenly distributed and the consistency of the mixture is like
i , -
bread crumbs.
20 :: BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY

4. Mix egg,eggyolk and flavouring.

5. Mix, knead slightly and shape into a ball.
6. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes.
7. Flatten the ball with your hand and then roll to a thickness of
1/8of an inch using a rolling pin and dry flour.
8. With a round biscuit cutter (4 inches in diameter) cut out 10-12
biscuits, leaving as few dough scraps as possible.
9. Gather the dough scraps gently and press them together.
10. Flour the surface and again roll to 1/8 of an inch, cut out.
11. Using a palette knife, transfer each biscuit to a greased tray in
rows.
12. To prepare egg and caramel glaze: put sugar and water in a
heavy bottomed saucepan and cook on medium heat, stirring
lightly until it becomes a rich, red brown. Break up egg yolks with
a fork and pour into the water and caramel mixture until the
glaze is deep golden-brown.
-..
13. Paint each biscuit with the glaze, taking care to keep the glaze
off the baking sheet. When finished, glaze them for the second
time. Then with the tines of a fork, scratch marks on the biscuits
in square, diamonds or triangles.
14. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes. Do
not judge whether the biscuits are done by the colour of the
tops, which will be dark from the glaze and will give a false
impression. Instead, check the undersides which should be
golden at the end of cooking.
15. Arrange the biscuits on a rack as soon as they come out of the
- oven to allow proper cooling.

INTEXT QUESTION 2.1

State true or False (T/F)

1. Pastry dough should be kneaded well to get crisp pastry dough
biscuits.
2. Cold area is more suitable for making of biscuits.
3. Chilling of dough before rolling results in better texture of bis-
cuits.
4. We use warm water for binding the ingredients so that binding
is easier.
 BISCUITS:: 21

2.5 BISCUITS MADE FROM CREAMED DOUGH

Creaming is the process of beating together butter and sugar so that
air bubbles are forced into the batter. The aerated mixture is then
moistened with eggs. Finally flour is added to make the dough. This
creamed dough is very versatile and is the starting point for more
biscuits than any other dough.
Creamed dough provides many opportunities for imaginative shap-
ing. It can be firm enough to be rolled out and cut with biscuit cutter
into various attractive shapes, like circles, hearts, diamonds, squares
etc. We use biscuit cutters for getting these basic shapes. A less firm
dough can be simply dropped from a spoon to produce chunky,
irregular shapes. You can also pipe various shapes by using a piping
bag and nozzle.
Further varitions can be made by changing proportions of the basic
mixture by increasing the quantity of egg (it will form cake-like
biscuits) or a few drops of flavouring essence or grated rind of citrous
fruits or ground spices. You can also blend in raisins, nuts, currants
or chopped crystallized. Chocolate can also be blended with dough •.
to get darker chocolate taste.
Any of the icings, glazes or garnishes (that you learn about in coming
chapters) can be used to flavour and decorate the biscuits.

Points requiring attention

1. In this method of biscuit making creaming is the most important
step as it aerates the mixture by incorporating air bubbles.
Creaming should be carried on properly so that the mixture
increases in volume and becomes light and fluffy.
2. While adding eggs, sometimes the mixture may look curdled,
but the flour will bind it together and there is no need to panic.
3. Add flour gently and a little at a time. Avoid over working the
dough as this would strengthen the gluten, making the dough
tough when baked.

FRUIT BISCUITS
The ingredients:
Flour 325 g
Margarine 250g
Icing Sugar 1909
'Egg 1
Baking Powder 1A tea spoon
Glazed cherries 50g
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Method:

1. Cream fat and Icing sugar in a clean enamel bowl with a

wooden spoon till the mixture is light and fluffy.
2. Add egg and cream and beat again for about a minute.
3. Sieve flour and baking powder and mix it in the creamed
mixture, taking care not to knead too much.
4. Chop glazed cherries and mix in the soft dough.
5. Dust the marble top with some flour and roll out the prepared
dough very lightly upto a thickness of %th of an inch.
6. Cut as many shapes as possible from the rolled .dough using a
fluted biscuit cutter.
7. With a metal palette knife, transfer the cut biscuits Into a greased
baking tray (Grease the tray lightly with any tat).
8. Bake at 1600 C for about 10-12 minutes.
9. Once they attain golden brown coloilt remove them and coolon
;:) coolino rack

2 3a 3b
1

4 5 6
•
2.6 BISCUITS MADE WITH EGG WHITE MIXTURES
Biscuits made from egg white mixtures are light in texture, e.g.
Macaroons. When egg whites are lightly beaten it becomes a loose
 BISCUITS:: 23

foam which can be used to bind dry ingredients. Nuts are often used
as the basis of such mixtures, replacing the flour that provides the
body of most biscuit dough. A blend of nuts and sugar, moistened
with sufficient egg white to form a batter, will produce crisp light
macaroons. These biscuits have a deliciously chewy texture.
Points to consider
1. It is important to seperate the egg white meticulously from the
yolk so that no trace of yolk is left in the white. Egg yolk contains
fat which prevents proper rising of egg white.
2. For the same reason, use scrupulously clean utensils without a
trace of grease.
3. Nuts, if used, should be finely ground to achieve a smooth, even
mixture.
PEA NUT MACROONS
The Ingredients:
to.
1. Egg white of 2 eggs
2. Grain sugar 90 g
3. Husked and finely chopped peanut? 90g
4. Vanilla essence 5 to 6 drops
5. Salt 1 pinch
Method:
(1) Beat the egg white with a pinch of salt, in a clean copper vessel.
(2) Keep on adding sugar little at a time during the beating process
till all the sugar is utilised. Also add vanilla essence during
beating.
(3) Slowly fold in the chopped peanuts with a palette knife, so that
the peanuts mix evenly into the mixture without sinking the egg
white.
(4) Pipe out the mixture with a piping bag and a star nozzle on a
greased baking tray. The piped mixture should be the size of a
tea spoon.
(5) Bake at 140°C till the macroons attain golden brown colour.
Approximate time required is 15 to 20 minutes.
Note:- Desicated coconut can be used instead of peanuts to get
coconut macroons.
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INTEXT QUESTION 2.2

1. Give one line answers

i) What is creaming?
ii) How would you rectify a curdled mixture?
Hi) Does curdling of mixture affect biscuit quality?
2. State true or false.
i) Presence of fat on eggwhites hinders rising while whisking.
ii) Biscuits made from egg white mixtures are short in texture.
iii) Nuts, when added to a biscuit mixture, are generally ground
well.

2.7. BISCUITS MADE FROM WHISKED EGG DOUGH

We made the biscuits from egg white mixtures by using only the
whites from the eggs, sugar and nuts, V¥.hereaswhisked egg dough
biscuits contain whole eggs, sugar and flour. Fats are optional. The
quantity of flour to be added varies from recipe to recipe. By lowering
the amount of flour, you can make light biscuits that rise during
baking while recipes requiring a higher proportion of flour give
comparatively harder biscuits. Flavourings like lemon or orange rind,
aniseeds, flavoured liqueur or spices like cinnamon can be added to
the dough.

1 2

3 4
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Buiscuits made from this dough have a slightly risen surface due to
the expansion of entrapped air in the dough while baking. So they
appear slightly dome shaped. This domed surface is a characteristic
feature of these biscuits.

ORANGE BISCUITS
Ingredients:
Grated orange rind of 1 Orange
Castor Sugar 120g
Eggs 2
Egg Yolks of 2 eggs
Olive oil 4 Table spoons
Rum 4 Table spoons
FloW 250g
The method:
1. Beat the sugar, eggs, egg yolks and orange rind in a clean bowl
till light and thick.
2. Continue mixing, adding the oil, rum and flour to make a fairly
light dough.
3. Dust your marble table top with little flour and roll out the dough
upto the thickness of 14".
4. Cut the dough with round or fancy shaped biscuit cutters.
5. Put the biscuits on a greased baking tray and bake in a preheated
oven at 180°C for 2 minutes, till they begin to brown.

2.8 BISCUITS FROM SYRUP- AND HONEY DOUGH

Syrups are thick, sweet liquids like honey, treacle and molases. We
have discussed these syrups in our first chapter on Bakery Ingredi-
ents or raw materials. These syrups provide extra sweetness, a
warm brown colour and a distinctive flavour to the biscuits. In these
doughs we can also use brown sugar and certain spices like ginger,
nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom etc. to get richer biscuits.
A little bicarbonate of soda is sifted along with the flour. It produces
bubbles of carbondioxide and raises the dough, thus lightening the
texture of biscuits.

TIPS FOR MAKING BETTER BISCUITS

1. For best results, buy the spices whole, store them in air tight
containers and grind the required quantities whenever needed.

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26 :: BAKERY AND CONFECTIONERY

This ensures better flavour of the spices.

2. If the syrup is too thick and it becomes difficult to blend in the
flour, warm it slightly. You can also add butter at this stage to get
a thinner consistency.
3. Always sift flour, soda bicarbonate and dry powdered spices
together for even mixing.

CHOCOLATE COOKIES
Ingredients :
Bitter chocolate, grated 140g
Molasses 250m I
Soft brown sugar 500g
Softened butter 250g
Soda-bi-carbonate 1 teaspoon
Flour 350g
The Method:
1. Mix all ingredients together to make a stiff batter, using just
enough flour to roll out the mixture.
2. Roll out the mixture on a dusted marble top upto a thickness of
14".
3. Cut with a biscuit cutter, about 3 em in diameter.
4. Place grease proof paper on a baking try and bake the biscuits
on the paper in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 12
minutes.
5. - When baked and cooled, store in an air tight container.

INTEXT QUESTIONS 2.3

1. Name a few syrups used in biscuit making.
2. Why are syrups used while. making biscuits?
3. Name some flavouring agents and spices used in biscuits.
4. Fill in the blanks:
i) Biscuit are an important item.
ii) We can classify biscuits on the basis of and
-
iii) Too much handling of short crust dough results in fat
becoming ----'-~
 BISCUITS:: 27

iv) Creaming is beating together' of and

~ so that air is enforced into the mixture.
v) Macaroons have a texture
vi) For proper whisking of eggwhites it is important to seperate
__ ,..--__ . from _

ANSWERS TO INTEXT QUESTIONS

2.1 1.F 2.T 3.T 4.F

2.2 (1) i), The process of beating together sugar and butter so
that it is aerated.
ii) Add flour to bind the mixture.
iii). No.
(2) (i) T (ii) T (iii) T
.2.3 1. Honey,treacle, molasses
2. For extra sweetness, warm brown colour, disitinctive fla-
vour.
3. Ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cardamom, etc.
4. (i) snack
(ii) raw material, method
(iii) oily
(iv) fat, sugar
(v) light
(vi) white, yolk