The May Biscuit of the Month is another classic – at least if you were born and raised to adore Bojangles’ and their bo’berry biscuits. Anyway, this biscuit is my take on that work of art with the blueberry-ness of it all turned up a few notches.

 

1. Inspiration Behind the Biscuit

• What sparked this flavor combo?
  • Blueberries are just a perfect complement to baked goods. Biscuits, muffins, scones, pancakes, waffles, turnovers, cobblers. The list is just endless.
  • The end of May/June means blueberry season here in NC so I went to the farmers market looking for a bucket of blueberries to turn into these biscuits. Every year, I have to make some sort of blueberry dish to commemorate the season.
• Connection to tradition or innovation?
  • Bojangles’ holds a special place in my heart – forever – so it was an easy decision to recreate those bo’berry biscuits with my own twists.

 

2. Recipe Development Process for the May Biscuit of the Month

• Challenges faced during development
  • It took the blueberries FOREVER to dehydrate before making the blueberry sugar. And I found out that’s because I neglected to pierce the berries first so the moisture wasn’t fighting to escape. So yeah, pierce the berry before trying to dry it out.
• Ingredients you experimented with
  • Blueberry sugar was inspired by a cocktail I had with strawberry sugar around the rim. And it was surprisingly easy to make (after the whole dehydration debacle, that is).

 

3. The Biscuit Construction

• Assembly of the biscuit
  • The base – blueberry biscuit made with blueberry sugar
  • Topping – blueberry glaze
• Textural details
  • The biscuit is a standard fluffy, soft inside with a crisp bottom.
  • The blueberries add delightful pops of slightly tart, fresh flavor.
  • The glaze is made with cream cheese and almond milk so that sweet creaminess is a perfect complement to the savory, tart, crunchy, crumbly textures in the biscuit.

 

4. The Flavor Profile

• Flavor balance
  • Blueberries are the primary flavor here. There is some tang from the cream cheese in the glaze, but the flavor is primarily blueberry.

 

5. Cooking Tips & Techniques

• Biscuit-making tips
  • Use cold ingredients and utensils, if possible – cold butter makes for fluffy biscuits
  • Avoid over-mixing and over-working the dough before forming biscuits. It’s okay if the dough isn’t uniform
  • Brush with butter or buttermilk before baking for more browning
  • More Biscuit Tips
• Additional tips for this specific biscuit
  • For making blueberry sugar – poke a hole in the blueberries before attempting to dehydrate them
  • Be patient. The blueberries need to be completely dehydrated for the sugar to work well.
  • Soften the cream cheese and sift the powdered sugar for a smooth glaze consistency.

 

6. Visual Appeal

• Presentation
  • The blueberry sugar creates a speckled effect throughout the biscuit. That plus the deep blue/purple of the berries and glaze make this biscuit an eye-catching experience once you break into each biscuit.
• Any garnish or final touches?
  • The only other flavor that I think would be a nice addition here is a little bit of mint. Finely sliced fresh mint or maybe a drizzle of mint-infused oil.

 

7. Tasting Experience

• The first bite
  • The corner was crisp but crumble right off. The interior was fluffy and speckled with visible bits of blueberry sugar. They kind of created a swirl that I wasn’t expecting.
  • Slightly sweet.
• How do the flavors evolve as you eat it?
  • The blueberry flavor builds as you eat it, especially when you bite into an actual blueberry.
  • I forgot the lemon juice in the glaze this time, but that addition is really going to set it off!
• Feedback from others
  • “It’s clear that the bo’berry biscuit is the inspiration but, like… this is the bo’berry biscuit’s rich auntie.
  • “I know you’re the biscuit lady, but no for real. You really are the biscuit lady.

 

8. Serving Suggestions

• How would you serve it?
  • It can be breakfast or dessert and it stands on its own. It would be delicious with a single scoop of old-fashioned vanilla ice cream, but that’s completely optional. The biscuit and glaze are a complete package.
• Perfect for a specific occasion?
  • I would love to serve mini versions of these at a Biscuit Bar Brunch – an opportunity to provide a sampling of 8-10 different biscuits and 5-6 different toppings or spreads.
• What would you name it?
  • The Violet – while I was in the middle of recipe dev, the line from Willy Wonka kept popping into my head, so that really confirmed it. “You’re turning violet, Violet!”

 

9. The Verdict: Would You Make the May Biscuit of the Month Again?

• Would you tweak anything for next time?
  • If I wouldn’t have forgotten the lemon juice for the glaze, these would have been PERFECT!
  • Otherwise, notes for myself: make more glaze. It’s delicious and every bite deserves enough of it.
• Overall thoughts

 

10. Next Month’s Biscuit</h3>

• A cornbread or cornmeal biscuit popped into my head recently, and I think that would be a beautiful base to what I’m thinking of as my Juneteenth biscuit. What’s going on it? I have no idea right now, but