[Tenacatita, Jalisco, Mexico; 19º 17.87 ' N/104º  50.33 ' W]

Chris and Heather and their two Portugese Water Dogs, Kira and Minnow, are from Juneau, Alaska and have been cruising Mexico for two years aboard their Saga 43 sloop, Legacy.  Kira and Minnow are frequent swimmers in the Tenacatita swim club which meets every afternoon and swims into the beach where the afternoon's activities range from walks to bocce ball to cards or Mexican train dominoes.  Legacy plans to cruise to and through the Panama canal in 2006 and make their way to Europe.  These cream biscuits were a highlight at our farewell brunch.  They're appropriately described as "decadent".

 

2 cups flour

2 teaspoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cup heavy cream

 

Preheat oven to 425º F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper if available.

 

Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in medium sized bowl.  Add 1 1/4 cups cream and stir with wooden spoon until dough forms, about 30 seconds.  Transfer dough from bowl to countertop, leaving all dry floury bits in the bowl.  In 1 Tbsp increments, add up to 1/4 cup cream to dry bits in bowl, mixing with wooden spoon after each addition, until moistened.  Add these moistened bits to the remaining dough and knead by hand just until smooth, about 30 seconds.

 

Shape dough into a round, 3/4 inch thick.  Cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter or wedges with knife.  Place rounds or wedges on baking sheet and bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, rotating the sheet at about 8 minutes.

 

Variations:

Herb:  Whisk two Tbsp minced fresh herbs into flour.

Cheese: Stir 1/2 cup diced cheese (cheddar, etc.) into flour.  Increase baking time to 18 minutes.

Ginger: Add 3 Tbsp. minced crystallized ginger into flour.  Before baking brush tops with 1 Tbsp heavy cream and sprinkle with 1 tsp. sugar.