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INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 cups heavy or whipping cream, cold (keep it in the refrigerator until you add it to the dough)
• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour (8 ounces by weight) (use the scoop and swipe method for measuring the flour, or weigh it for best accuracy)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (or 1/2 teaspoon table salt)
• 1 stick (1/4 pound) unsalted butter, cold
• Extra all purpose flour for kneading and rolling out the biscuits (about 1/4 - 1/2 cup)

PROCEDURE:

1. Preheat the oven to 500°. Add the vinegar to the cold cream, stir and return to the refrigerator.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a mixing bowl. If you do not have a sifter, use a whisk to evenly distribute the ingredients.
3. Remove the butter from the refrigerator, unwrap it, grate it into the flour mixture using the large holes of a cheese grater (Or, place it on a cutting board. Use a knife or pastry blade to cut the butter into 1/4" thick slices. Stack three or four slices and cut them into three even strips. Rotate the stack a quarter turn and cut the three strips in half. Toss the butter bits into the bowl of flour mixture and continue cutting all the butter in the same manner and add it all to the flour mixture).
4. When all the butter is in the flour, use your fingers to break up the butter bits and to distribute them evenly throughout the flour mixture. Do not rub the butter too hard with your fingertips or the palms of your hand, as this will create friction and melt it. (You may use a pastry blade instead of your hands, but hands are quicker). When all the butter is evenly distributed, add the cold buttermilk and stir with a large spoon (metal or wood) for about one minute, until all or most of the flour is absorbed by the buttermilk and the dough forms a coarse, moist ball.
5. Generously dust the counter or a large cutting board with flour and transfer the dough to the floured surface. Sprinkle additional flour over the top of the dough. Dust your hands with flour and then press the dough with the palms of your hands into a rectangle or square, about 1/2" thick. Use a pastry blade or metal spatula to scrape and lift the bottom of the dough off the counter and dust a small amount of flour under the dough (do this on both sides of the dough), and lay the dough back down. Sprinkle a small amount of flour on the top of the dough and then fold the dough over on itself, in three sections, as if folding a letter (also called a tri-fold). Again, lift the dough and dust the counter under it with flour. Dust the top with flour and press the dough out again into a rectangle or square, about 1/2" thick, and repeat the tri-fold. Repeat this procedure two more times (four times in all).
6. After the fourth tri-fold, dust under and on top of the dough one final time and use a rolling pin (or your hands) to roll or press the dough into either a rectangle (for triangle cut biscuits) or an oval (for round biscuits), 1/3" thick.
7. Cut the biscuits, either with a pastry blade or pizza roller knife for triangles, or with a biscuit cutter, to the desired size (a 2" diameter biscuit cutter will yield about 24 small biscuits). To cut the dough, dip the blade or cutter into the extra flour before cutting, to reduce sticking. Use a scraper or metal spatula to lift the biscuits from the counter and place them on an un-greased baking sheet (you can also cover the pan with baking parchment or a silicon pad), about 1/2" apart.
8. Rest or refrigerate the pan of biscuits for 15 to 30 minutes. Place the baking sheet on the middle shelf of the oven and reduce the temperature to 450° (425° in a convection oven). Bake for 8 minutes, then rotate the pan 180 degrees, and bake for an additional 6-10 minutes, or until both the tops and bottoms of the biscuits are a rich golden brown (less time in a convection oven). They will be nearly double in height, and will reveal accordion-like layers on the sides. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a cooling rack but leave the biscuits on the hot pan. Cool for at least 3 minutes before serving. The biscuits will stay warm for about 20 minutes.