While Pearson has scaled back the volume of his
baking some, he says he is still learning.
Sometimes, if he is making a cake in an unfamil-
iar or new oven, he has to check the temperature.
He recommends using a temperature gauge to
check oven temperature periodically. At his current
home, for example, he has noticed that he has to
turn his stove on 375 degrees for a recipe that calls
for baking at 325 degrees.
“The cakes just weren’t cooking right,” he said.
“I realized there was an issue with the oven. I
guess I will get it fixed at some point but for now, I
know I can just make that change.”
And here’s the recipe’s to the famous Jake’s Six-
Flavor Pound Cake.
JAKE’S SIX-FLAVOR POUND CAKE
3 cups plus 6 tablespoons White Lily All-Purpose
Flour, plus 1/2 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
3 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup Crisco shortening
6 eggs, room temperature
1/2 teaspoon each of flavorings vanilla, rum,
almond, coconut, butter and lemon
Preheat oven at 325 degrees.
On high speed, combine butter, shortening and
flavorings, beat 1 minute.
Add sugar, beat 3 minutes. Add eggs, beat 3-4
minutes.
Lower speed. Add milk, then flour.
Grease and flour cake pan; shake off excess
flour. Pour mixture in pan and bake in oven for 1
hour and 25 minutes.
Recipe for Nanaws
Homemade
Buttermilk Biscuits
READERS’
REQUEST
38•
The premiere issue of Timeless
Meridian featured 97-year-old Opal
Arthur in our In the Kitchen feature.
Arthur has built a legacy for her
homemade buttermilk biscuits that
has spanned several generations, as
she has taught her children, grand-
children, great-grandchildren and
others how to make the doughy,
round breadcakes. Arthur said she
initially taught her young grandsons
how to make the biscuits years ago
in part as a way to keep an eye on
them while she was in the kitchen,
hoisting them up on the counter to
sit, mix and roll dough for their own
biscuits.
Arthur noted several “secrets”
to her biscuits, including using a
stainless-steel bowl and spoon s. She
also insists the biscuits be made with
buttermilk from Beason Farms in
Philadelphia – something she picks
up at the local Piggly Wiggly.
In addition to family, her biscuits
have been shared with neighbors
and her adult children’s co-workers.
After reading about Arthur’s
famous homemade buttermilk bis-
cuits, several readers requested the
recipe. Her daughter Betty Arthur
Rucker shared the coveted recipe.
NANAWS HOMEMADE
BUTTERMILK BISCUITS
2 cups Martha White Self-Rising
Flour
Pinch of salt (optional)
1 cup buttermilk
4 tablespoons canola oil
Preheat oven 425 degrees. Add 3
tablespoons canola oil in glass pie
plate, enough to coat the plate. Drain
canola oil in biscuit flour then slowly
add buttermilk while stirring with
spoon.
Shake a coat of flour on pastry
mat (or parchment paper/plastic
wrap). Turn out mixture and knead
only 5 to 6 times. (Too much han-
dling makes them tough.) Flour
hands, pinch off small palm size
amount rolling in hands, place in
greased pan with sides touching.
Gently mash middle of each biscuit
then gently touch each biscuit with
the left over tablespoon of canola
oil before putting in oven.
Bake
20-25 minutes. Brush with butter
when done. Serve hot. Seal leftovers
in plastic bag after cooling; great to
warm up later.
TIMELESS MERIDIAN