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Since I was a little girl and before (at least, so I’m told), we had a family tradition for Sunday morning. I, in turn, have continued the same ritual with my family, and my girls now do the same with their friends. Every Sunday for brunch, we make homemade biscuits and sugar butter.
As it goes with many great recipes, this one for biscuits and sugar butter has survived and been passed down through the generations. Because the star ingredient here is brown sugar, I suspect the recipe originated in the South. My guess is that sugar butter hales from Virginia in specific, where my great-grandparents immigrated after leaving Wales.
Sugar butter is a big treat. The saltiness of the biscuits paired with the praline flavor of the sugar butter is not to be missed. It’s also delicious drizzled over porridge or spread on toast. I have a feeling it would also be wonderful in a dessert featuring apples or bananas.
Like the recipes themselves, this meal has a rich history. My mother ate biscuits and sugar butter as a girl growing up in Newton, Kansas, and my sisters and I have wonderful memories from our childhood of our mother setting hot, fresh biscuits and sugar butter on our kitchen table. My daughters grew up with the same, and are now carrying on the tradition in their own ways. My older daughter would call home from college, telling me her friends were begging her to come over and make biscuits and sugar butter again. My younger daughter, just learning to cook, now makes the recipe for her friends when they come to our house for sleepovers. We’re also thrilled that a story of my mother’s biscuits and sugar butter will feature in next month’s issue of Southern Lady Magazine. The tradition just keeps going.
Another thing that I love about this particular tradition is that every generation adds a new spin. The way I make biscuits and sugar butter extends beyond the food to include the table. Every Sunday morning, I set the table with my favorite dishes—Rosanna dishes mixed with fine Limoges from France and handcrafted bone china from England. I accentuate the place settings with linen napkins and fill our crystal glasses with frosty orange juice.
I put a little extra effort into Sunday morning brunch to make this meal feel different. I set the table with care to set this breakfast apart from the meals we eat during the rest of the week.
Many rituals and traditions come less frequently—one a month or even once a year. That’s why it’s important to establish rituals of all kinds. Big and small, they help us keep going and connect us to our pasts.
My Mother’s Biscuits and Sugar Butter
BISCUITS
Makes 12
(For a shorter, richer biscuit, use 6 tablespoons butter.)
1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
2 ½ tablespoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
4 to 6 tablespoons salted butter, room temperature
3 tablespoons melted butter
2/3-1 cup whole milk
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a baking sheet or dish.
2. Combine dry ingredients in a food processor.
3. Add the room-temp butter and pulse until the mixture takes on the consistency of cornmeal.
4. Add the milk and pulse until just combined in one large ball. If the dough is too dry, add a little milk at a time.
5. Prepare a lightly floured surface.
6. Remove the dough and knead for 30 seconds—about 10 folds. You want the dough to feel moist and light.
7. Roll out the dough to a ½ thick slab.
8. Cut the biscuits with a round cookie cutter or with a mid-sized drinking glass.
9. Give the dough scraps to young children to make miniature biscuits using a 1 ½ inch cookie cutter or shot glass.
10. Place biscuits on the prepared baking sheet, brush both sides with the melted butter.
11. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned.
12. Leave the biscuits on the baking sheet until you’re ready to eat.
13. Serve in a tiered compote with butter, jam, marmalade, and sugar butter. Cut biscuits in half and ladle sugar butter on top.
SUGAR BUTTER
1 cup salted butter
1 cup brown sugar
½ cup heavy cream, more if necessary
1. Melt the butter a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the brown sugar and stir until the mixture bubbles.
2. Blend in the cream. Turn down the heat to just below simmering.
3. Cook until the sugar has fully dissolved and the flavors are balanced. About 5-10 minutes. If you need more, just add a little cream.
4. Transfer the sugar butter to a gravy boat or creamer to serve.
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