Biscuit: types, recipes, features and methods of preparation

Biscuit cake is a dessert based on flour (usually wheat), sugar and eggs, sometimes with a baking powder. It has a solid, but well-porous structure, similar to a sea sponge. Biscuit can also be obtained from a liquid or lavishly battered dough.

A cake cooked using the liquid test method is known as a Victorian biscuit, from a fluffy whipped - like sponge cake. Biscuit, whose species are very distinct from each other, is especially common in Europe and is most often found in Italian bakeries. This dessert was first invented in the 14th century, and the modern name was given by the Italian confectioner Giovanni Battista Carbon. Approximately in the middle of the 16th century the delicacy was called "biscuit".

How is it different?

Biscuit is considered one of the first types of baking from a non-yeast dough. The earliest recipe for such a cake can be found in English in the book of the English poet Gervas Markham in 1615. The way to prepare dessert is indicated as one of the skills that a good housewife should possess. At the same time, different types of biscuit are described at the same time in other European sources. So, in Spain it was called "sweet bread", in Italy there were several regional names, etc.

Methods of obtaining

Biscuit, whose types are diverse today, has a classic recipe. It uses eggs, sugar and flour. To make it, first you need to beat the eggs and mix them well with sugar. As a rule, mixing of products occurs until an easy and homogeneous mass is formed. Then carefully sifted and gradually added flour (depending on the recipe, it can be mixed with a small amount of baking powder). Since there are numerous types of biscuits today, cooking involves different technologies.

So, the yolks are ground with sugar first, while the whites are beaten separately into a meringue-type foam, and then combined together. The resulting mixture is then poured into a mold and baked. Regardless of the method of preparation, it is important to leave the eggs in the air whipping and mixing with other products. Thanks to it, a very light and airy dough is obtained. However, it is quite easy to lose this stored air if you get the cake from the oven before it is completely ready.

Until the dough cools after baking, it remains quite flexible. This allows you to create different rolls from it. A classic recipe is also used for many desserts. However, the types of biscuits for cakes are numerous. So, the "angelic" version is popular, in which only egg whites are used, and some Belgian waffle versions, where the egg whites are separated from the yolks and added to the batter at the end of cooking.

Modern biscuit: species

It is possible to single out the following varieties of such a test, which are found for the preparation of cakes and other delicacies:

• Classic - his recipe is given above. Instead of flour, starch can be used to make the dough more plentiful.
• Oily - during its preparation, eggs are beaten with butter and sugar, and then flour is added.
• Chiffon - when cooking, oil is also added, and the proteins and yolks are separated.
• Nut, or dakuaz, - the test consists of two types of flour, wheat and walnut, usually in equal quantities.

Types of chocolate biscuits can be any, because each of the above varieties of the test can be supplemented with cocoa. Sweets are prepared from every type of biscuit, widely spread all over the world. Some of them should be considered separately. Types of biscuits, recipes of which have received international recognition, it is not difficult to cook. What are these varieties?

Victorian Sponge Cake

The Victorian biscuit was named after Queen Victoria, who liked to pamper herself with a piece of cake with her afternoon tea. This treat is a category of oil biscuits, because when cooking a mixture of vegetable and butter is used.

A typical Victorian cake consists of two sponge cakes, smeared with raspberry jam and whipped cream or vanilla cream. The top part of the treat is usually not covered or decorated with sprinkled powdered sugar.

A Victorian biscuit can be prepared in one of two ways. The traditional method involves mixing the powdered sugar with butter, thoroughly whipping the mixture with eggs, and then adding the flour and baking powder to the mixture. The modern method uses an electric mixer or food processor, so all the ingredients are added simultaneously and whipped immediately to a lush mass. As this greatly accelerated the cooking process, such a biscuit is used today for making a wide variety of recipes, and not just for a Victorian cake.

Angel biscuit

The types of this delicacy are also varied. This gentle dough is used to make a cake with fruit fillings, ice cream or cream. It can be served on the table warm or chilled, and is often offered with coffee or tea. You can prepare it at home. To do this, you will need:

• 1.5 cups of egg whites (about 12 large eggs);
• 1 glass plus one tablespoon (240 g) of sifted flour;
• 1 1/3 cup (270 g) of sugar;
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt;
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract;
• 0.5 teaspoon of almond extract.

How to make an angelic biscuit?

Separate the eggs and drain the proteins into a measuring cup for liquids. You need to collect 1.5 cups of pure product. This will require about 12 large eggs.

Preheat the oven to 180 ºC. Sift the flour before measuring its quantity. Add about half of the sugar in the flour and sift it again.

Whisk the egg whites in a large bowl, adding salt as soon as they foam. Continue to beat. Once the product starts to form soft peaks, add the remaining sugar and extracts. Beat until hard peaks form.

Use the spatula, gently put the mixture of flour and sugar to the beaten proteins and mix with rapid movements from top to bottom. You should get a batter similar to sour cream. It is important not to shake air bubbles out of it.

Pour the dough into a baking dish and bake immediately. The biscuit will be ready within 45 minutes. When you get the dessert from the oven, immediately pull it out of the mold. Types of biscuit creams may be different, but in this case it is better to use the remaining yolks to make the custard.

Biscuit dakuaz

You can impress guests by making a cake from a nut dessert biscuit. What is needed for this?

Ingredients for biscuit:

• 250 grams of roasted hazelnuts;
• 300 grams of powdered sugar;
• 25 grams of cornstarch;
• 6 large egg whites;
• a pinch of salt.

How to cook cake?

Preheat the oven to 180 ° C. Fold the hazelnut in a bowl of a food processor and chop it. Put the nuts in a saucepan and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every three minutes.

Remove the hazelnuts from the oven, place them in a large bowl and let cool. Then mix with 100 grams of powdered sugar and cornstarch.

Reduce oven temperature to 150 ° C. Cover the three baking sheets with parchment paper and, using a small plate as a guide, draw a circle with a diameter of 21 cm on each. Set it aside. Carefully fit the posts in the upper, middle and lower third of the oven.

Make meringue from egg whites. To do this, add salt to them and whisk at medium speed for about two minutes. Increase the speed and put the remaining 200 grams of powdered sugar, one tablespoon at a time. It is necessary to make a rigid thick meringue. Gently add ground hazelnut into it.

Place meringue on a baking sheet, spread out with a spoon in the form of measured circles. Bake for one hour, swapping the upper and lower baking trays in the middle of the cooking process. Turn off the oven and leave the cakes cool down there, but with the door open. This will take approximately 45 minutes. After that, a ready treat can be smeared with any cream.