I spent a week in Nashville, Tennessee.
An entire, glorious week of playing and relaxing and eating. And I kind of fell in love. With the town, with the people, with the music, and (mostly) with the food.
My friend, Carrie of Tiki Tiki Blog fame was my lovely host and tour guide.
Did you know there's a perfect replica of the Parthenon in Nashville? (That's right, Percy Jackson fans. It's kind of magical.)
I have so many wonderful stories and highlights from my trip, but today I want to talk about the beauty that is… Fresh. Hot. Biscuits.
Biscuits. Hot biscuits. Freshly-pulled-from-the-oven. Hot, melt-in-your-mouth, good-ole-down-home, I-must-have-died-and-gone-straight-to-Heaven biscuits.
These beautiful creatures were to be found at the famous Loveless Cafe in Nashville, Tennessee.
To be fair, pretty much everything served there was amazing and full of down-home goodness. With it's iconic walls covered with autographed photos of their famous clientele and that dessert case silently beckoning, "Y'all just gotta have pie!" I was hooked.
Nashville was beautiful and my time there was delightful, and I will continue to sing the praises of the treasure to be found there, but the biscuits….. *sigh*
When I got home the first thing I wanted to do was to re-create the magic of the most gorgeous mouth-watering delicacies I had ever tasted.
I picked up a fabulous cookbook while I was there called The Desserts from the Loveless Cafe by Alisa Huntsman. There are dozens of recipes for Southern puddings, pies, cakes, and cobblers. But I confess I bought the book for the Biscuit Recipe. (I know. Shut up.)
In fact, my goal for this year is to master the art of biscuit making. (Who am I?)
And because I'm a giver, here's the recipe for Loveless Buttermilk Biscuits that is my ticket to being a Biscuit-Making Fool:
Loveless Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients:
- 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 stick (4 oz.) plus 2 Tbsp. unsalted cold butter, cut into cubes
- 1 1/2 cups buttermilk
- Preheat the oven to 425ยฐF. Line a sturdy baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and butter in a food processor. Pulse until the butter is cut into small pieces no larger than the size of peas. Pour in the buttermilk and pulse just enought to make smooth dough.
- Scrape the dough out onto a floured surface. Using your hands, pat into a 1/2-inch-thick slab. Cut out the biscuits using a 3-inch round cutter and place them on the lined baking sheet; rework the scraps once to make more biscuits.
- Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until golden brown. Serve warm with butter and jelly.
Maybe it was the magic spell of the accompanying Southern hospitality. Maybe it was being in this legendary place. Maybe it's the beautiful lilting drawl that accompanied the "Y'all come back now."
Or maybe it was just that those biscuits were truly the best in the world. Thanks, Loveless. I am forever yours. ๐
Haylee,I’m glad to know I’m not alone in my madness.
xoxo,
M
Mario,Thanks for the recommendation! I’m crazy-in-love! LOL!
I will admit that I too have purchased a cookbook for just a single recipe. Fortunately for me, it turned out to be STELLAR – whew!
My love for the Loveless is immense! I knew you’d love it too!
Mmm, those would be great with some country gravy! Sausage gravy ๐
You’re killing me here. *sigh*
I just went there last summer. It was so yummy!
I recently bought “Southern Country Cooking from The Lovelace Cafรฉ” because I had read how fabulous their biscuits were. There were some great recipes in the book, but sadly not the “world famous biscuit” recipe. I was so disappointed. Thank you so much for posting this recipe. I’m excited to try it. Happy Baking!
Where did you get this recipe?
Hi David,
I think I got it from the Loveless cookbook.
xo,
Marta
Ok, thanks. I was under the impression that they did not publish the recipe anywhere. Lots of people have tried to copycat it, but most use some yeast which I am convinced is not in the recipe. I may have even seen a video of Miss Carol stating such. She was very close mouthed about the recipe though. It is kinda like Cracker Barrel biscuits. I am pretty sure I know the Recipe for that based on statements from former employees (basic biscuit recipe found all over the internet), but I cannot duplicate the results. I can come close to my grandmother’s biscuits, but not by using her method or exact ingredients. I now use a primitive method with no measuring other than to get in the ballpark on flour. I started doing it after watching several older ladies on YouTube. No cutting in fat tge typical way, no kneading per se, no rolling, and not always using a biscuit cutter, and never taking the dough out of the wooden bowl. I am now 71 and gave been trying to get that perfect biscuit for over 50 years.
I feel you!
I bet they probably ommitted some key ingredient. I can never get it to turn out just right.
Good luck on your quest!
xo,
Marta