Biscuits, Bath Olivers — Put into a pan 6 'lb. fine flour;
■cream together 2oz. German yeast with loz. of sugar, mix
this with a quart of tepid milk✪ Bath Olivers, and pour it all into a bay
in the flour, draw a handful or so of the flour down into it,
cover, and let it rise for one and a half hours ; then work it
into the rest of the flour, with a pound of butter, working
it well together to a smooth dough ; let it rise again for
two hours, then roll it out very thinly, stamp out in
biscuits with a plain cutter the size of a teacup, prick
them well, being careful the fork prongs go right through
the biscuits (or the gas and steam will not escape properly,
and their look 'will be spoilt by blisters on the surface),
set them on flat baking tins previously sprinkled with
water, and brush the biscuits over with egg yolk beaten
up in milk ; set the tins, when filled, in a warm cupboard
• or a drawer for half an hour, then bake in a slack oven.
These biscuits can hardly be rolled too thin.
Captain’s. — Mix in a large basin 41b. flour, 2oz.
butter (broken up small), two whole eggs, and a pint of
water✪ Captain’s Biscuits ; work and rub these ingredients well together,
slipping the hands down to the bottom of the pan, and
throwing up the half mixed dough till it is all well
blended. Then knead it thoroughly, working it well and
heavily (the secret of baker’s “Captains” lies in this
kneading, as they use either a “break” or a biscuit
machine, and thus knead the dough much more thoroughly
than it is easy to do by hand, save in very small batches) ;
as soon as the dough is well mixed and smooth, cover it
with a damp cloth, and leave it for an hour or two ; then
roll it out quickly, as thin as possible (paper-thin is about
right\ cut out with a round plain cutter, prick the biscuits
ROLLS, &c.
49
well with a fork, dust a baking sheet lightly with rice
flour (do not butter it), arrange the biscuits on this and
bake at once in a very hot oven. To ensure success with
these biscuits the dough must be worked in a warmish
place and guarded from draughts till it gets into the oven.
In baking set the biscuits at first in the very hottest part
of the oven to blister and brown the surface, then shift
them to a somewhat cooler part ; but the oven must always
be very hot and the work done very quickly. Like all plain
hard biscuits, captains should always be well dried after
baking, setting them for some hours in a dry warm place,
or a slack oven. Thick Captains are made in precisely the
same away, only breaking the dough off in 2oz. pieces,
rolling these out a quarter of an inch thick, in rounds (or
rolling the dough in a sheet and stamping it out with a
cutter), then pricking them well through. Ahernethy bis-
cuits are made like thick captains, only adding 2oz. of
carraway seeds to the mixture, and baking the biscuits in a
somewhat cooler oven than for captains. Milk is also often
used instead of water, in the mixing.
Page 31 · 2 recipe records on this page
Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Biscuits, Bath Olivers — Put into a pan 6 'lb. fine flour; ■cream together 2oz. German yeast with loz. of sugar, mix this with a quart of tepid milk, and pour it all into a bay in the flour, draw a handful or so of the flour down into it, cover, and let it rise for one and a half hours ; then work it into the rest of the flour, with a pound of butter, working it well together to a smooth dough ; let it rise again for two hours, then roll it out very thinly, stamp out in biscuits with a plain cutter the size of a teacup, prick them well, being careful the fork prongs go right through the biscuits (or the gas and steam will not escape properly, and their look will be spoilt by blisters on the surface), set them on flat baking tins previously sprinkled with water, and brush the biscuits over with egg yolk beaten up in milk ; set the tins, when filled, in a warm cupboard • or a drawer for half an hour, then bake in a slack oven. These biscuits can hardly be rolled too thin.
Captain’s. — Mix in a large basin 41b. flour, 2oz.
butter (broken up small), two whole eggs, and a pint of water ; work and rub these ingredients well together, slipping the hands down to the bottom of the pan, and throwing up the half mixed dough till it is all well blended. Then knead it thoroughly, working it well and heavily (the secret of baker’s “Captains” lies in this kneading, as they use either a “break” or a biscuit machine, and thus knead the dough much more thoroughly than it is easy to do by hand, save in very small batches) ; as soon as the dough is well mixed and smooth, cover it with a damp cloth, and leave it for an hour or two ; then roll it out quickly, as thin as possible (paper-thin is about right, cut out with a round plain cutter, prick the biscuits
well with a fork, dust a baking sheet lightly with rice flour (do not butter it), arrange the biscuits on this and bake at once in a very hot oven. To ensure success with these biscuits the dough must be worked in a warmish place and guarded from draughts till it gets into the oven. In baking set the biscuits at first in the very hottest part of the oven to blister and brown the surface, then shift them to a somewhat cooler part ; but the oven must always be very hot and the work done very quickly. Like all plain hard biscuits, captains should always be well dried after baking, setting them for some hours in a dry warm place, or a slack oven. Thick Captains are made in precisely the same way, only breaking the dough off in 2oz. pieces, rolling these out a quarter of an inch thick, in rounds (or rolling the dough in a sheet and stamping it out with a cutter), then pricking them well through. Abernethy biscuits are made like thick captains, only adding 2oz. of carraway seeds to the mixture, and baking the biscuits in a somewhat cooler oven than for captains. Milk is also often used instead of water, in the mixing.
Records on this page
Bath OliversCaptain’s Biscuits