The first recipe in my 1001 Cookie Recipes cookbook is for an "Abernethy Biscuit" (see the iced cookies to the left). This seems to be a pretty standard roll cookie aside from the strange addition of Caraway seeds, which I usually associate with rye bread, my least favorite bread in the world. When I was a kid, something about the taste of those little seeds always made me think of onions, which I also abhorred. Just smelling onions made me turn green (particularly fresh onions, just cut, and all the stingy sharpness they exuded all over the house & refrigerator).
But I like strange things, and caraway seeds in cookies are strange, so I was up for giving it a try. Also, since I haven't eaten rye bread since my gustatorily uncurious childhood, when the sight of a heaping pile of sickly-green canned peas could make my stomach turn, I was pretty sure that I wouldn't feel quite so stomach-turny at the taste of caraway seeds anymore. I like to think I have an expanded palate now. I can even stomach onions, when cooked thoroughly and rendered unrecognizable and clear. My grandmother used to eat them fresh, dipped in mustard. I'm not to that level of onion tolerance yet. Back to the cookies.
Before we get to my recipe results, though, some history is in order. Abernethy biscuits were created by, or named after, Dr. John Abernethy, a Scottish surgeon who believed that most sicknesses come from bad digestion. You'll come across this kind of doctor in pretty much any 19th century British novel, particularly the Romantic & Gothic ones, which involve delicate women fainting or men who drink thick wine & port & beer and eat too many spicy foods and squander their inherited money on gambling and the various charms of women with dubious reputations. In such novels, the doctor inevitably prescribes some kind of bland biscuit, cracker, and broth when said man or woman has a fainting fit, bad dreams, or attacks of nausea. This biscuit was created to settle the over-excited stomach, or to make the very timid stomach feel justified in its lack of curiosity. From what I can tell, the Caraway seeds were added for completely practical reasons--they were supposed to aid in digestion.
Knowing said history (Thank you
I changed the cookie recipe as listed in the cookbook to better fit the ingredients that I had on hand. Unfortunately, my changes probably rendered it useless for digestive purposes (a cup of butter will never be recommended for good digestion, I'm sure). Good thing I'm not off quaffing gallons of port on a daily basis.
The original recipe called for vegetable shortening, which I never have, so I substituted it with butter. The vegetable shortening version would probably create a crispier cookie, as mine were a bit dense. I also changed the order of the mixing, due to the inclusion of different ingredients. This definitely changed the intended texture of the cookie. The original recipe called for mixing the flour and sugar with the vegetable shortening, much as one does when making US "biscuits"--the fluffy biscuits and gravy kind of biscuits. Here is what I concocted instead. See the book for a more authentic recipe.
5.5 cups of flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
.5 teaspoons salt (not in the original recipe)
1 cup of sugar (I used brown, but if you want the crispy, lighter cookie, use white)
1.5 cups butter (vegetable shortening will create a different cookie)
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons caraway seeds
Mix together dry ingredients in a small bowl.
Cream together butter and sugar until the mix is light and fluffy. Add the eggs one by one, beating again until light and fluffy. Add the extract and lemon juice. Use lemon zest, if you have it. Lemon extract might create an interesting taste, too, but I used lemon icing on the cookies, so I didn't want the entire thing to taste like a sickly sugary lemon with caraway seeds stuck in it.
Mix the dry ingredients as well as the caraway seeds gradually into the butter/sugar/egg mix. Add milk as needed, if the batter is too stiff.
Although the original recipe doesn't call for it, I put my dough in the refrigerator for a while to aid in stiffness for rolling. Using butter creates a bit wetter dough, so this might not be necessary for those of you who decide to use vegetable shortening.
After a time in the refrigerator or freezer, take out the dough and roll it to 1/4 inch thickness on a well-floured surface. I suggest using a pastry cloth for rolling, which prevents sticking and messiness. Cut out 2-inch circles. Bake at 350 for 7 to 10 minutes, depending on your oven & your ability to remember to check the clock.
After baking, you may ice with an easy lemon icing:
1 cup confectioners sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice
a tablespoon or so of water
Mix this concoction up, adjusting lemon juice and water as desired, and drizzle over the cookies after they have cooled.
My results:
My cookies were interesting-- kind of fresh and sweet and tangy, but I think I cut them too thick (not being so good at measuring by eye), so they were a bit chewy and dense, whereas I get the impression they are supposed to be crispy & light in texture. But the taste was something else--sweet and strange and slightly peppery. Z said that he also detected dill, and I trust his taste buds (he is the best taster I know! He can identify all manners of strangeness). I brought these cookies to a pot luck and people seemed to genuinely like them, and not just in the "Wow, these are interesting" (read not very good, but weird) kind of way.
