German Biscuits – a VERY vintage ((and equally delicious)) recipe

One of my favorite things?? — vintage cookbooks! I have a pretty extensive collection, thanks to one of my other favorite things — estate saling. ((PS did you know there is a whole mass of people wondering what’s the correct spelling for garage/estate saling — sale-ing? Some “scholars” actually insist there is no appropriate “hyphen-ing” addition, rather a writer should pen the following “today I went to a few garage sales”. Humphf.))

Back to the biscuits.

I snatched up The Art of German Cooking and Baking by Mrs. Lina Meier; 1909 ed. 1949 many months ago and have been amused by the recipes ever since. I actually keep this cookbook on my nightstand, close by when an unexpected quiet moment arises. This treasure is FULL of recipes that will never ((ever)) be resurrected in my kitchen; dozens of rabbit recipes, numerous ways to cook any animal organ you can imagine & many funky food combinations that make me chuckle and gag all at the same time.

Yep, that’s my kind of entertainment.

But tucked in neatly among all of the unmentionables, a bounty of Old World, semi-forgotten treasures await:

coffee cake with almond frosting
sour cream cake
cheese tart
chocolate mousse
chocolate pudding
fudge
champagne cream
yeast doughnuts
many, many more just begging to be brought back to life AND
BISCUITS

Let me just say, there are a lot of things I can pass up ((as far as eating goes)) but a hot, buttered, homemade biscuit made by a professional isn’t one of them. Oh, and yes, I am pretty sure, after perusing her cookbook for countless hours, Mrs. Lina Meier is a professional biscuit-maker and all around cook & baker extraordinaire!

Now let’s REALLY talk biscuits. Let me just start off by saying, a few things about this recipe were on the verge of ((if not past the verge of)) confounding. For starters, I really do wonder what 1½¢ worth of yeast looks like. Oh, and that little blurb about beating the dough for 20 minutes – I thought that was for the birds. But there was an overall vagueness to this recipe that really left me feeling like a baking buffoon.

“Mrs. Meier? How long should I set the batter to rise?? While we’re at it, how long should the biscuits rise?? And one last question (well two I suppose), what temperature and for how long should these biscuits bake??”

I am pretty sure she gave me a few German scowls, at least 3 or 4 head shakes and I am almost certain I heard her mutter she would be better off doing it by herself. I will admit, there were at least 3 times I was completely certain that I had botched the entire recipe.

But, as any really good, basic recipe seems to go – these biscuits were AMAZING. In spite of my naivety, inexperience and long list of questions, after 21 minutes in a 375° oven, out popped the most delicious, fluffy, slightly sweet yeast biscuits. Certainly better than I could have EVER hoped for.

Mrs. Meier’s short list of ingredients & limited instructions combined with a few of my inexperienced assumptions produced a budding family favorite. ((stretchy pants here I come))