Sugared Biscuits and Chocolate Gravy

Sweet biscuits and gravy sounds like a gimmick, right? Well, there’s documentation of this dish being made as far back as the 1700s. It’s a fascinating example of how migration along the Appalachian trading route helped establish Indigenous Mexican influence on Southern cuisine.

Thickened in the traditional French way, warm, spicy, and faintly bitter Mexican chocolate ganache forms the “gravy” for raw-sugar-crusted biscuits. It’s great with any biscuit recipe really, though. The relationship of sugared biscuits to plain ones is very similar to that of pâte sucrée (sweet pastry crust) to pâte brisée (savory pie dough).

SERVES 8

SUGARED BISCUITS

• 2 cups (280g) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

• ¼ cup (30g) confectioners’ sugar

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter

  Sunday Best: Adrienne Cheatham

• ½ cup whole milk (or buttermilk or dairy-free substitute), cold

• 2 tablespoons Demerara sugar, for topping (regular sugar will do fine)

CHOCOLATE GRAVY

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1/3 cup (25g) unsweetened cocoa powder

• 2/3 cup (130g) granulated sugar

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¹⁄8 teaspoon chili powder

• Pinch of ground cayenne pepper (kinda optional, although I recommend using)

• 2 cups whole milk

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• Strong black coffee, for Serving

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. MAKE THE SUGARED BISCUITS: In a large bowl, combine the flour, confectioners’ sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut 4 tablespoons of the butter into cubes and use your hands to work them into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like wet sand.

3. Gradually add the milk, pressing and folding with your hands in the bowl to combine the ingredients and form a dough. Turn the dough out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour and gently knead it once or twice.

4. Flour your hands and pat the dough into a rectangle a little less than 1 inch thick. Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small bowl in the microwave and brush it over the top of the dough. Sprinkle evenly with the Demerara sugar.

5. Cut the dough into 2-inch squares (circles are too wasteful) and place them on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the biscuits are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

6. MAKE THE CHOCOLATE GRAVY: Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Whisk in the cocoa powder, granulated sugar, salt, cinnamon, chili powder, and cayenne. Whisking constantly, add the milk little by little.

7. Bring to a simmer, whisking frequently, then reduce the heat to medium-low, so the gravy doesn’t burn, and continue cooking until thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

8. Arrange the biscuits on serving plates and spoon the gravy over the tops. Serve immediately with strong black coffee.

SUNDAY BEST FINESSE

Garnish with candied orange, satsuma, or kumquat peels for an upscale look and a citrusy kick.

Reprinted from Sunday Best. Copyright © 2022 Adrienne Cheatham with Sarah Zorn. Photographs copyright © 2022 Kelly Marshall. Published by Clarkson Potter, an imprint of Random House.

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