Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits & A Beachy Cake

Remember the other day when I posted the crazy Chocolate Avocado cake with Avocado Buttercream? I mentioned that I had lifted the recipe from Joy the Baker's blog. Well, that same day as I was perusing Joy's blog, I came across a recipe for the tastiest biscuits I have seen in a while. I am a sucker for anything with "pepper" in the title. I don't use salt, unless a recipe calls for it. I don't add it to anything I put on a plate to eat. I figure there is enough salt in most everything we eat and I don't need to add any more. (Wish my husband felt the same, but that is another story). But pepper? I add pepper to almost everything. I keep a pepper mill on the table in front of where I sit so I can add fresh ground pepper to my food. When I saw this recipe, Cheddar Black Pepper Biscuits, I knew I had to try it. Joy's photos of the recipe being put together are great. Looks like you could reach right through your computer screen and snatch a biscuit.

Tonight I didn't have anything in particular planned for dinner and was sitting on the couch watching the weather forecast (10-14 inches of snow!) when I remembered I had printed the recipe for the biscuits and thought how yummy breakfast would be for dinner, with those biscuits on the side. Now, my hubby, while a hard core salt man, does not care for pepper. Too hot for his taste buds (wussy!) and normally when I cook I try to avoid adding pepper to things. But, tonight I wanted to try this recipe like it was intended. I figured I would apologize to my hubby later. :)

It took no time at all to whip these up. Took longer for the shortening to get cold in the freezer than it took to mix everything up and have the biscuits cut and on a baking sheet. I brushed the tops with heavy cream and then, being the loving wife I am, I only added fresh ground pepper to the tops of half of the biscuits. There is pepper in the dough, but I went a tad lighter then the recipe called for. But, I decided I could load up the tops of my biscuits.

15 minutes later I had the most wonderful looking biscuits cooling on my counter. They baked up tall and flaky looking. I scrambled some eggs for my hubby, heated up some sausage (I precook a couple of pounds of deer sausage and keep it in the freezer. Then when I need some, I only have to zap it a minute in the microwave) for him and put two of the biscuits on his plate. He ate his with butter.

For mine, I took Joy's advice and fried up a couple of eggs, cooked a couple of slices of bacon and made biscuit sandwiches.

Oh. My. Goodness. Hubby and I both loved, loved, loved these. They tasted every bit as good as they looked. Tender, buttery, flaky without crumbling apart in your hands (like a certain doughboy's do when baked). The cheddar cheese was subtle. The pepper? My hubby didn't really notice it in his. I could tell mine were peppery but I think it was more from the tops than from inside the biscuit. These were so good. And, because they were so quick to make I think I will stop buying the bags of frozen biscuits at the store and make my own.  Try these. You won't be disappointed! You can find the recipe here...

One last thing. I was contacted this week to do a small anniversary cake for one of my daughter's co-workers. The young lady told me that her and her hubby were married on a beach and that while on their honeymoon they saw starfish. She asked if I could do something that would incorporate those things. This is what I came up with. The chairs are wood and from a little kit I bought at a dollar store, knowing they would come in handy one day. The shells and starfish are melted chocolate. The towels and umbrella and flip flops are fondant. Everything else is buttercream. When I delivered it, the young lady was thrilled!