Quicky Sticky Biscuits

I was recently lucky enough to have a friend loan me a copy Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey , and since I've vowed to be more experimental in my baking choices, and try and make things that don't involve chocolate, the Quicky Sticky Biscuits immediately stood out to me. They involved making a biscuit - something I hadn't yet done, and making a caramel sauce - I'm still scared of caramel, though I have tried out a few caramel involving desserts.

And boy, was I glad I did. I did screw up the caramel once, as you can see, and ended a kind of toffee thing I have no idea what to do with after 2 days. I contemplated giving up and going with another recipe, but I struggled on, and ended up with a great dessert, though it looked nothing like in the picture. Despite this, I had pride in the fact that I had successfully conquered some other items on my list. =) I hope to add this book to my slowly but steadily growing collection soon, since that friend has already left town :(

Quicky Sticky Biscuits
Adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey



For the sticky pecan [walnut] sauce-

1 cup [200 g] firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup [180 g] dark corn syrup
1 1/2 sticks [175 g] unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups [120 g] chopped pecans - I used walnuts, cant find pecans here.

1. Preheat the oven to 220 C, grease a 9x13 pan and keep ready.
2. In a saucepan, combine the sugar, corn syrup and butter, over low heat, until the butter melts.
3. On melting, increase the heat and bring the sauce to a gentle boil, until it thickens, about 3-5 mins.
4. Stir the nuts in, and pour into the greased pan.

Mine never really thickened, probably because I took a chance with the corn syrup, using some store brand, since getting actual corn syrup here is quite a task. The first time, I waited and waited for it to thicken, ending up with this -


The second time, I just cooked it for the stipulated 5 minutes, because I knew it would just be a texture and appearance thing, not affecting the taste.





For the Biscuits -

4 cups [480 g] flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp salt [I didn't add, since I was using salted butter]
2 sticks [225 g] frozen butter
1 1/2 to 2 cups cold buttermilk

1. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture. It will not look like breadcrumbs, or how it does for a pie crust, but it will be crumbly.
3. Slowly add the buttermilk in, starting with 1 cup and adding more, till a soft dough is formed, making sure to not let it get sticky and mushy - I needed 1 1/2 cup
4. Cut the dough into 16 portions.

For the cinnamon topping -

1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 stick [113 g] butter

1. Combine together the sugar and cinnamon in a bowl.
2. In another bowl, melt the butter.
3. Brush both sides with butter, and then coat with the cinnamon sugar topping.
4. Place in the pan, over the sauce, evenly spaced.
5. Bake for 15-17 mins, until the biscuits brown, and the sauce is bubbling up around them - Mine took longer because I was using a smaller pan, they were cramped together.
6. Cool slightly, then invert onto a large serving platter, allowing all the sauce to fall on the biscuits. If any persistent bits remain, scrape out and place on the biscuits. Serve immediately.

I really liked the biscuits, I'm now going to try many other kinds. Any recommendations would be lovely. The sauce was a bit much, I'd try reducing the sugar, or maybe reducing the actual amount of it. But this could be chalked up to the faulty corn syrup, so if anyone tries it, I'd love to hear what you feel.