Walnut and Raisin Biscuit

I think that there are few women out there who don't have some early kitchen memories involving mothers or grandmothers and delicious smells. I am lucky enough to not fall into that category as I have plenty of lovely memories of my mom and grandma baking and cooking and letting me help with the occasional task. Of course, as you grow up and try to recreate those once loved recipes, you find that they never turn out quite the same way. Still, the process of going through those same steps and coming out with a great product brings a certain sense of pride and happiness.

To this day my mom still makes these yummy biscuits which are known as mazurka in Russian. Although I have helped her many times, somehow doing it on my own leads to them tasting slightly different. A couple of weeks ago my economics class was set to have a lecture on the beach, and girls were responsible for bringing food. I decided that I would make these biscuits because they are very light and easy to make ahead.

As with many of my mom and grandma's recipes, this one was in Russian and required me to translate it before I began. I will admit that my Russian reading skills are elementary at best, but I do have them and occasionally use them. After translating the recipe, I decided I would call my mom to double check that I had gotten the ingredients and portions correct. When I read off my translation, my mom informed me that I had mistaken one tablespoon of flour for one cup. I replied by telling her that I was pretty sure the word on the page said cup, but she insisted that it was one tablespoon and that I must not have understood the abbreviation correctly. I thanked her for pointing out my mistake and proceeded to prepare the biscuits.

While making the biscuits, I kept having a nagging feeling that something wasn't right. My mixture was quite liquidy and not at all the thick consistency that I knew it should be. As I folded in the walnuts and raisins and poured the mixture into the pan, I knew that something had gone wrong. Still, I continued to follow the instructions and baked the biscuits. In the end, all of the walnuts and raisins sank to the bottom and the biscuit turned out more spongy than crispy.

I showed my biscuits to my mom and she agreed that they had not turned out correctly. Although the taste was the same, the texture was definitely different. I relayed to her step-by-step everything I did and she confirmed that I had done everything right. So what was the problem? We decided to consult the original recipe and decided that apparently it was my mother's memory and not my Russian skills that had led me askew. The recipe did indeed call for one cup of flour, not one tablespoon, and would have led to a much thicker mixture had I added the one cup. We laughed about the mix-up and my mom apologized for mistrusting my translating abilities. I still ended up bringing the biscuits to the picnic because they still tasted good...and I had nothing else prepared anyway. However, I'm pleased to say that I tried making the biscuits again for Father's Day, this time using one cup of flour, and they turned out just right with a crunchy texture.


Walnut and Raisin Biscuits

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup flour
• 1 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 cup raisins
• Dash of vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Line a 13" x 9" pan with parchment or wax paper. Make sure to create crisp and defined edges, otherwise the biscuits will sink into the folds in the cracks. If you want, you can sprinkle some flour over the paper for ease of peeling it off later, but it's not necessary.
2. Beat the eggs and sugar together on high speed until the mixture is nearly doubled in size and a pale yellow, almost white. Add the vanilla, about a cap full. Keep beating until you notice the mixture cannot get any thicker, between 5-7 minutes.
3. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour to the mixture. Beat until all of the flour is incorporated and the mixture is white in color.
4. Once all of the flour has been thoroughly mixed in, gently fold in the walnuts and raisins.
5. Pour the mixture out into the pan and, using a spatula, spread and smooth it out. Make sure that you spread it into the corners evenly because the mixture will not spread on its own.
6. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until it is a light, golden brown on top.

Once out of the oven, immediately invert the pan and peel off the paper. It is easiest to do this while it is still hot. Invert once again onto a cutting board so that the top is facing up.

Cut the biscuit lengthwise with each strip measuring approximately two fingers in width.

Cut diagonally across each strip to form two triangles at the ends and diamonds in the middle.