It’s tea time!
– Hi, Katerina, thanks for calling, what’s up? We haven’t talked since your wedding anniversary. I remember we were trying to guess what your husband would get you as a present.
– Hi, dear, Yes, that’s true.
– So, tell me, what did he get you, after all? Diamonds or pearls?
– Actually, he got me a biscuit press and, believe me, I appreciate it much more, than any diamond, pearl, or any other kind of jewelry!
– Well, what can I say! To be honest, I am not surprised. So, how did you find it?
– It is absolutely awesome. As you might guess, ever since, I have been obsessed with it, making various tastings and I have standardized my star recipes. Do you want me to tell you?
– Are you joking? Of course, I do. Hit them!
First of all, here are some tips I have summarized to make the biscuits absolutely perfect!
When the dough is formed, we let it rest for half to one hour, wrapped with cling film, so that it does not get dry. Don’t put it in the fridge. It should not harden too much.
The baking tray were we spread the biscuits, should not be greased, nor lined with parchment, as we need the biscuits to stick to it, in order to be cut off the machine and perfectly formed.
When we press each biscuit over the baking tray, we remove the biscuit press, without releasing the lever. This way, we ensure a perfect cutting of the biscuits.
1. Cornmeal flour biscuits
ingredients for 35 pieces (cost about 4€ with organic ingredients)
- 100 g butter
- 2 egg yolks
- 50-60 g egg white (about 1 ½)
- 38 ml milk (or 2 egg whites and less milk)
- 125 g cornmeal flour
- 125 g pastry flour
- 75 g sugar
- lemon zest
- 4 g baking powder
- 0,5 g baking ammonia
- 1 pinch salt
Step 1. First of all, we cut the butter in dice, we place half of it in a heatproof bowl and we melt it over a hot water bath. We remove the bowl from the bath and we add inside the rest of the butter, stirring until it acquires a creamy consistency. We let it come to room temperature.
Step 2. We sieve the flours with the leaveners and salt in a bowl. We add the sugar and we mix together. We add the egg yolks and we briefly stir them to combine. We then add the melted butter and the lemon zest and we work the ingredients by hand or with the paddle of the stand mixer.
Step 3. Finally, we add the whites and the milk and we continue working the dough, just until it comes together. If it does not come together, but remains in a state of crumbs, it needs a little more liquid, so we add a little milk (a tsp at a time), until the dough, finally, comes together. In the end, the dough should be soft and pliable.
Step 4. We transfer the dough to floured working surface, we form a log and we wrap it with cling film. We let it rest at room temperature for about half to one hour.
Step 5. Then, we fill the biscuit press with the dough, we adjust the decorative cutter of our choice, we regulate the machine at position 1 for small biscuits or 2 for larger ones and we spread biscuits on a baking sheet, leaving a reasonable space between them, as they will spread during baking.
Step 6. We bake at a preheated ventilated oven at 150 o C for about 18 minutes for large biscuits (1 minute less for smaller ones). When ready we remove them from the baking tray and we arrange them on a wire rack to let them cool completely. We keep them in an aluminum box.
2. Buckwheat flour and honey biscuits
ingredients for 45 pieces (cost about 6€ with organic ingredients)
- 125 g butter
- 100 g honey (I use oak and chestnut honey)
- 2 egg yolks
- 175 g buckwheat flour
- 175 g pastry flour
- 38 ml milk
- 7 g baking powder
- 0,5 g baking ammonia
- 1 pinch salt
Step 1. Same, as we do for the corn flour biscuits.
Step 2. We sieve the flours and leaveners in a bowl. We add the egg yolks and we briefly stir them to combine. We then add the honey, as well as the butter and we work the ingredients by hand or with the paddle of the stand mixer.
Step 3. Finally, we add the milk and we continue working the dough, just until it comes together.
Steps 4 – 6. Same, as we do with the corn flour biscuits.
3. Cocoa biscuits, topped wild strawberry jam
ingredients for 35 pieces (cost about 4€ with organic ingredients)
- 100g butter
- 50 g sugar
- 250 g pastry flour
- 25 g cocoa powder
- 1 large egg, separated
- 50 ml milk
- zest from 1 lemon
- 4 g baking powder
- 0,5 g baking ammonia
- 1g (¼ tsp) salt
- wild strawberry lam for topping
Steps 1-6. We proceed the exact same way we make the corn flour biscuits. When sieving the flour, we also sieve the cocoa powder together.
NOTE: In this case, use a decorative cutter, that makes biscuits with a cavity in the middle, so that you can add some jam in the end. If you do not want to add jam, raise the sugar to 75 g.
4. Orange, honey, cinnamon and walnut biscuits
ingredients for 40 pieces (cost about 7€ with organic ingredients)
- 300 flour
- 40 g toasted ground walnuts
- 60 g sugar
- 40 g honey
- 1 large egg
- 90 g olive oil
- 40-50 ml orange juice
- zest from 3 oranges
- 6 g cinnamon
- 7 g baking powder
- 0,5 g baking ammonia
- 1 pinch of salt
Step 1. First of all we toast the walnuts for about 10 minutes at 150 o C. When cool, we finely grind them and we keep them aside.
Step 2. We sieve flour, baking powder and cinnamon in a bowl. We add ground walnuts, sugar and salt and we stir well. We add the egg yolk and we briefly stir to combine. We then add the honey, as well as the oil and orange zest and we work the ingredients by hand or with the paddle of the stand mixer.
Step 3. Finally, we add the egg white and the orange juice and we continue working the dough, just until it comes together. If the dough does not come together but remains in a crumbly state, it needs a little more liquid. We transfer the dough to floured working surface, we roll it to a log and we wrap it with cling film. We let it rest for about an hour.
Steps 4 – 6. Same, as we do with the corn flour biscuits.
