FOOD: Meet Our State Biscuit

FOOD

From left to right: Designed For Joy co-founders Kristen Sydow and Cary Heise

meet our STATE BISCUIT

Cafe Carolina adds sweet potatoes to a Southern classic

by ADDIE LADNER photography by TAYLOR MCDONALD

“We don’t roll and cut, we scoop!” says Ron Hines. He’s the owner of Cafe Carolina & Bakery, and as he says this, he seamlessly mixes biscuit dough by hand on a Wednesday morning, just as he and the other handful of bakers do seven days a week, sometimes twice a day. This isn’t just any biscuit dough. It’s the dough for the famously soft, melt-in-yourmouth sweet potato biscuits that generations of Raleigh residents have come to love. A bestseller on the restaurant’s light menu of pastries, soups, salads and sandwiches, the sweet potato biscuit has been on the menu since the cafe opened more than 20 years ago. It’s a tribute to the state of North Cackalacky and its official vegetable, the sweet, nutritious, orange

New Bern, North Carolina New Bern, North Carolina Ron Hines holds a basket of sweet potato biscuits.

root spud. As Hines says, “it’s a classic more like 80 to 100. These biscuits can but unique item that you don’t see at too be enjoyed at any meal: as part of a light many places.” breakfast with coffee and fresh fruit, Hines likes to showcase North Caro- filled with thinly sliced Virginia pit ham lina ingredients whenever possible on and cheddar cheese as a sandwich for the menu, using local poultry for turkey lunch (at right), or alongside a hearty sandwiches and seasonal produce in bowl of cream of broccoli soup for dinsalads. But especially, sweet potatoes. ner. “We wanted a recipe that could go High in vitamins, minerals and fiber, but either way—salty or sweet, morning or low in fat, sweet potatoes are known for evening,” says Hines. their health benefits. They’re inexpensive The baking process starts at 6 a.m. and offer endless every day and takes cooking ideas: sweet potato “We wanted a recipe about 30 minutes from start to finish. fries, sweet potato casserole, baked, that could go either In the early days, bakers would roast mashed. way—salty or sweet, the sweet potatoes, Many of the sweet potatoes morning or evening.” peel them, then puree them the found in kitchens all over the — Ron Hines night before. But Hines wanted more country come consistent and relifrom right here in N.C. According to the able results, which are hard to guarantee North Carolina Sweet Potato Associa- when you’re dealing with bags full of tion, our state has been the top sweet sweet potatoes in various sizes and varipotato producer in the United States eties, so he started experimenting. since 1971. In 2016, the state harvested It took a while. For years they worked upwards of 95,000 acres worth of sweet on different recipes before they landed potatoes, according to the North Caro- on a winning recipe that’s deceptively lina Department of Agriculture. simple. In fact, there are only three Pre-COVID-19, every day an average ingredients: old-fashioned Bisquick, of 150 sweet potato biscuits went home canned sweet potatoes and brown sugar. with happy cafe-goers. Nowadays, it’s It’s how you put them together that

CAFE CAROLINA’S SWEET POTATO BISCUITS

Makes 17

Ingredients

4 cups Bisquick 1 cup brown sugar (reserve half for topping) 2 cups canned mashed sweet potatoes

Directions

Pre-heat a convection oven to 325 degrees. Combine the Bisquick and brown sugar and, with your hands, work through any clumps. Add the mashed sweet potatoes, then hand-mix until batter is evenly incorporated.

Use an ice cream scoop to scoop biscuits onto a baking tray. Top each with a generous sprinkle of brown sugar and bake for 18 minutes.

makes them so good, says Hines. He uses only Grade-A North Carolina-packed sweet potatoes and starts with scouring the biscuit mix for clumps before putting it all together (lest they interfere with the uniform fluffy texture). The dough is always mixed and kneaded by hand, fresh each morning, and it’s scooped onto the baking sheet, rather than rolled and cut, so as not to overwork the dough. “Nothing too complicated,” says Hines. “But there’s a little science to it.” Little bits of wisdom, tried-and-true-techniques and simple ingredients—that’s Southern cooking for you.

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