Ingredients:
2 cups of all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
A pinch baking soda
1/3 cup of butter
1 cup of buttermilk
Extra flour for working the dough
Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Grease a 8" round layer cake pan. Sift dry ingredients together (except for the extra flour). Put in mixing bowl. place shortening on top, it should be quite cool. Cut in with a pastry blender or two knives. Pour in the cup of buttermilk and stir lightly with a fork. The batter must be very moist! If it is not then
add up to another 1/4 cup of buttermilk. The combination of a very hot oven, a small baking
pan and very wet batter creates much steam within the biscuit which makes them rise to great height
and wonderful lightness. Empty the wet batter into the shallow bowl over the cup and a half of flour. You will be preparing your biscuits right out of this bowl. Flour your hands real good and scoop out a very large heaping table-spoon of batter into your hands( you should end up with about 10 biscuits). Roll the piece of batter around in your hands just till it takes on a round shape. Keep your hands very floury so it (the batter) doesn't even get a chance to stick) Kind of shake off the excess flour and put the biscuit in the pre-pared pan. The biscuits should be nestled quite snugly together.
Put the pan on a rack that has been placed in the lower center of the oven. Close quickly and bake for about 12 minutes till they are high and golden brown
Source: Carolina Country Cookbook
