Sugar and ‘Salt’ and Small Things ‘Broste’

Welcome to our newly opened e-store, Day True Home. As we open up for business, we are starting small to help you build a bigger picture – of who we are, what we are offering, and how everything gathered here is designed to make the small things in life look and feel better.

We’re offering here a cup of something to take your fancy, and some sugared ‘salt’ biscuits (recipe below), created to honour the origins of our choice of china. At Day True, we’re fussy about what we serve and how we serve it, because we understand that good service blends quality of taste with some joy in giving and receiving.

And in matters of good taste, perception is now proven to be an arbiter of extreme influence. A good-looking biscuit will taste better when presented on a beautiful plate than its twin can ever manage served with less care. This is a finding of ‘gastrophysical’ fact, researched by no less than a professor of such things at Oxford University. His findings are that pleasure in flavour starts with the anticipation of a ‘look’, long before our taste buds get involved, and that the better the experience of anticipation, the more we are able to appreciate the pleasure. Be warned however: our ears are also in on this act – and any food is ‘ruined’ if Justin Bieber’s ‘Baby’ happens to be playing as you eat it – a ‘fun fact’ brought to you via the same sources.

Our Broste Copenhagen ‘Salt’ range is tried and true to us, and we don’t know anyone who doesn’t love the look and feel of it. Classic, elegant and edgily modern – each piece in the range is glazed a pure white, has a hand-painted black rim, and comes with or without some fine speckled dots that may or may not invoke the idea of ‘salt and pepper’ (they do for us!) – your choice whether to mix or match.

The cups and saucers (two sizes) are a joy to behold, and the side plates a perfect frame on which to place, to their very best advantage, these delicate and elegant, appropriately light, organically shaped sugar biscuits with a hint of salted seasoning – a match we feel is as prettily perfect as good taste dictates it should be.

Sugared ‘Salt’ Biscuits

Ingredients

225g butter (at room temperature)
100g sugar (plus some extra for sprinkling later)
¼ teaspoon crunchy, good quality sea salt (lightly ground if the crystals are very large)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
300g plain white flour

 Method

1. Cream the (soft) butter, sugar and salt together in a mixing bowl, until they are just blended – try to avoid beating in air, the aim is only to homogenise the ingredients. Use a wooden spoon and elbow grease, or an electric blender or stand mixer at a low speed.
2. Add in the vanilla extract – mix in with butter, sugar and salt.
3. Add in the flour (in two or three batches); combine the ingredients using the same method as before, until they just come together as a soft dough (don’t overwork it!).
4. Spread the dough onto a sheet of clingfilm or baking parchment – use the parchment to help you form (and roll) the dough into a long log shape (the diameter of this will determine the daintiness of your final biscuit), then wrap it up and chill in the fridge, for at least half an hour.
5. Pre-heat the oven to 180ºC
6. Take the dough out of the fridge; roll the outside of the dough log in some sugar (either sprinkled onto the paper, or over a cutting board).
7. Cut into as many ½ cm slices as you want biscuits to bake (you can store the rest of the dough in the fridge for a few days).
8. Put the raw biscuits onto a baking sheet, lined with some baking parchment, then bake in the oven for (approx.) 10-15 minutes – they will be ready when they look like they are just starting to turn a little golden at the edges.
9. Leave to cool on a wire rack; serve with morning coffee or afternoon tea. Make sure to plate them appropriately, for full enjoyment!