IDEA ALLEY : Sweet potato biscuits get rise out of readers
Posted on Wednesday, July 23, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Food/232150/
Recipes that appear in Idea Alley have not been tested by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Responses have been coming in for Doris Helton of Warren who asked for a Sweet Potato Biscuit recipe. This one is from Julie Sims of Benton. (So far, however, we have had no response from Helton’s other request — Sugar Fried Pies. ) Sweet Potato Biscuits 3 cups all-purpose flour 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup shortening 2 cups warm mashed sweet potatoes 1 / 2 cup granulated sugar 1 / 4 cup milk
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Cut in shortening.
In a separate bowl, place sweet potatoes and sugar and mix well. Stir in milk. Combine with flour mixture. Blend well.
Place dough on a floured surface and roll to a 1 / 2-inch thickness. Cut with biscuit cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until brown.
Here is a similar recipe that uses brown sugar instead of granulated sugar, and adds orange zest. It comes from Jannette Honea of Summers. Sweet Potato Biscuits 2 cups all-purpose flour 1 1 / 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 4 tablespoons brown sugar 6 tablespoons butter 2 tablespoons orange zest 2 / 3 cups buttermilk 1 cup cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
In a large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, butter and orange zest. Add buttermilk and sweet potatoes. Mix all ingredients together; pat out on a floured board. Cut into biscuits. Put in a greased pan and cook at 450 degrees for 10 minutes or until brown. Phil Allen of Rogers sent in this recipe, which bears the distinguished name of Thomas Jefferson. It calls for a goodly amount of spices and chopped nuts. A similar but smaller version was shared by Kaye Walker of North Little Rock.
Thomas Jefferson’s Sweet Potato Biscuits 5 cups all-purpose flour 1 cup packed light brown sugar 2 tablespoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1 1 / 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 / 2 teaspoon ground allspice 1 cup vegetable shortening 2 cups cooked, mashed and cooled sweet potatoes 1 cup heavy cream 1 / 2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
Heat oven to 350 degrees.
In large bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. Using 2 knives, cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Add sweet potatoes and mix well with a wooden spoon. Add cream and pecans and stir until just moistened. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface, roll out to a 1 1 / 2-inch thickness and cut out with a 2-inch, floured biscuit cutter. Place biscuits 1 inch apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown.
Makes 24 biscuits. An unidentified reader asks for the Tunnel of Fudge Cake recipe from the 1966 Pillsbury Bake-Off. Though many think it was a grand prize winner, it was only a category winner with a $ 5, 000 prize. Pillsbury no longer makes the frosting mix used in the original recipe. The Pillsbury Web site states that this recipe most closely resembles the original.
Tunnel of Fudge Cake Cake: 1 3 / 4 cups granulated sugar 1 3 / 4 cups margarine or butter, softened 6 eggs 2 cups confectioners’ sugar 2 1 / 4 cups all-purpose or unbleached flour 3 / 4 cup unsweetened cocoa 2 cups chopped walnuts Glaze: 3 / 4 cup confectioners’ sugar 1 / 4 cup unsweetened cocoa 4 to 6 teaspoons milk Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 12-cup fluted tube cake pan or 10-inch tube pan. To make the cake: In a large bowl, combine sugar and margarine; beat until light and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar; blend well. By hand, stir in flour and remaining cake ingredients until well-blended. Spoon batter into greased and floured pan; spread evenly. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes or until top is set and edges are beginning to pull away from sides of pan. Cool upright in pan on wire rack 1 1 / 2 hours. Invert onto serving plate; cool at least 2 hours. To make the glaze: In small bowl, combine all glaze ingredients, adding enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Spoon over top of cake, allowing some to run down sides. Store tightly covered. Send recipe requests, contributions and culinary questions to Irene Wassell, Idea Alley, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P. O. Box 2221, Little Rock, Ark. 72203; e-mail:
iwassell@arkansasonline. com Please include a daytime phone number.