Makes 12 Biscuits
2¼ Cups All-Purpose Flour
2¼ Cups Cake Flour (NOT SELF-RISING)
½ Cup Granulated Sugar
1 Teaspoon Fine Sea Salt
1½ Teaspoons Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
½ Cup Unsalted Butter, Chilled and Cut Into Small Pieces
½ Cup Shortening (Crisco), Chilled
2 Cups Whole Buttermilk
Melted Butter to Brush Tops of Biscuits
Preheat oven to 450°F with rack in middle of oven.
In a large bowl, combine the two flours, sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
Add the cold butter and Crisco and with a pastry cutter or your fingertips (I prefer using my finger tips) work the butter and Crisco into the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Don’t overwork the dough. Some large lumps of butter are ok. This helps make the biscuits flaky.
Pour in the buttermilk and mix with the fork only until the ingredients are just moistened. The dough will be soft and sticky.
Bring dough together with your hands and very gently knead on a lightly floured surface to bring it all together. Pat the dough into a rectangle about 1” thick. Fold the left side of the rectangle over to the right and bring the right over to the left side (like an envelope) and pat lightly into a rectangle again. Repeat this same process two more times, being gentle each time when patting down. If the dough gets too sticky use a sprinkling of flour when needed. Pat the final folding into a 1” rectangle.
Use a sharp 2” biscuit cutter to cut the dough. Do No Twist the cutter, as this will prevent the biscuits from rising. Just push straight down and lift straight up. I suggest dipping the cutter into a bit of flour first to keep it from sticking to the dough. Bring the scraps of dough that are left behind, after cutting, together and gently pat down into 1” rectangle. You can do this only one time as the dough will get tough and will yield a hard biscuit.
Place the biscuits on a sheet pan lined with silpat or double parchment paper. (Silpat is the best to use here.) Do not crowd the biscuits. Leave about an inch between each. Brush the tops with melted butter.
Place in the preheated oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes, rotating the pan half way through the cooking time. The tops will be golden brown. You want a crispy outside and a tender flaky inside. Let the biscuits rest a couple of minutes before serving with sweet butter and jam.
