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
