Bakewell Cream Bangor’s secret to well-risen biscuits

A lobster’s own packaging turns out to be the best container for freezing, and good old Maine Bakewell Cream is the secret to well-risen biscuits.

You’ll recall we had a query about how best to freeze extra lobster for later use. One reader suggested if anyone was troubled with “too much” lobster, she’d be happy to take it off their hands. Another advised making a lobster pie then freezing the pie. (That recipe sounded good; I saved it to share with you later when lobster is more affordable.) Eleanor Campbell of Gouldsboro suggests breaking off the claws, legs and tails, putting them into a plastic bag and freezing them in the shell. “When you take them out,” she says, “it is just like having fresh-cooked lobster.”

To the request for a recipe for a biscuit taller than a hockey puck came a veritable chorus of you acclaiming Bakewell Cream with baking soda as the leaven instead of baking powder. Betty Bartlett in Exeter suggests that baking powder goes flat quickly in humid coastal towns, so squat biscuits may be attributed to that. She also reminds us to use a quick oven, 430 to 450 F for baking them.

Bakewell Cream, made in Bangor for 60 years, is cream of tartar, an acid, that when combined with the alkaline baking soda creates the gas needed to pop a biscuit right up.

Georgia Gray, nicknamed “the biscuit lady,” of Verona shared with us the recipe she uses to make biscuits for baked bean suppers. She recently produced 300 for one such supper. Georgia says, “they will not cook enough if you go by the directions on the can,” which says 5 minutes at 475 degrees F. She always sifts the flour, and uses Crisco shortening, though I tried them with butter because I really like butter. She also said, “Cut through the dough with a spoon to get rid of air bubbles before you knead them.” Don’t handle the dough too much, and work quickly.

Looking for…

Now here is something I personally would like to know. Does anyone have a good recipe for pickled fiddlehead ferns?

Send queries or answers to Sandy Oliver, 1061 Main Road, Islesboro 04848. E-mail: tastebuds@prexar.com. For recipes, tell us where they came from. List ingredients, specify number of servings and do not abbreviate measurements. Include name, address and daytime phone number.

Biscuits

Yields 20 biscuits

4 cups flour

4 teaspoons Bakewell Cream

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup shortening (not melted)

1 1/2 cups milk

Pre-heat oven to 430 degrees F. Sift together all the dry ingredients; cut in the shortening and mix in milk, tossing the dough till all the flour is incorporated. Then turn out on a floured board and knead quickly a couple times, then pat out to about an inch thick. Cut in rounds and place on greased baking sheet or in a 9-by-13-inch pan. Bake 15 to 30 minutes until golden brown.