Rise and Shine biscuits for a sweet morning

Liz Kellermeyer

Biscuit with strawberry jam smear

A lovely biscuit is one of those things that seems so simple, yet is entirely too easy to get wrong. While you hope for buttery, tender and flaky, the few simple ingredients can result in a biscuit that's just as likely to be mealy, tough or tasteless. But with a whole business built around achieving the former, Rise & Shine Biscuit Kitchen and Cafe, 330 Holly Street, makes it easy to get your mitts on a good one.

We stopped in early one morning to try out what's threatening to become Denver's next big trend in baked goods: biscuits. The menu is simple, offering an array of savory options along with a few sweet toppings to complement the biscuit.

Seth Rubin, owner and biscuit-maker, sticks to a traditional biscuit dough recipe, but, he says, "we do like to change up ingredients on the wet side and on the dry side." These creative touches show up in their biscuit of the day flavors, which can range from Nutella to sun-dried tomato to beer. Rubin notes that the maple brown sugar biscuit, which will be available this Saturday, is always a customer favorite.

Though their take on a cinnamon roll sounded interesting, it also sounded dangerously close to the refrigerated tube variety, so in the end we went with a stripped down classic: a single hot biscuit slathered in strawberry jam.

The biscuit itself is surprisingly flat, though as soon as it's sliced through, you can see the thin layers of flaky dough that add up to an authentic texture profile. The biscuit's exterior is browned and dusted with a light sprinkling of flour, while the inside is warm and soft. Topped with sweet jam, this uncomplicated breakfast treat is a welcome change in routine.

Biscuit and jam $1.50