Molasses-Baked Winter Squash (Boston Cooking-School, 1896)
The squash on an 1896 Boston Thanksgiving menu: two-inch squares of butternut baked in their skins with salt, pepper and a little molasses and melted butter on each piece, covered first, then uncovered until glazed.
Edited by JP Lambiase
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Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
Long before marshmallows, the sweet orange side dish at a New England Thanksgiving was squash. Fannie Farmer's "Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" (copyright from 1896; Project Gutenberg's text is the 1906 printing) prints a "Menu for Thanksgiving Dinner" with roast turkey, cranberry jelly, mashed potatoes, onions in cream and squash, followed by mince, apple and squash pie. Her "Baked Winter Squash I" is the simplest glazed squash there is: squash cut in two-inch squares, seeds and strings removed, salted and peppered, with half a teaspoon of molasses and half a teaspoon of melted butter on each square, baked about fifty minutes in a moderate oven, covered for the first half hour, and served in the shell. She names Marrow, Turban and Hubbard as the common winter squashes of her Boston markets. Squash itself is one of the "Three Sisters" that Native peoples of New England grew with corn and beans (see our Three Sisters Succotash recipe).
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Why it works the kitchen science
Covered, then uncovered
The foil traps steam so the dense squash cooks through and turns creamy, then 20 minutes uncovered drives off the water and caramelizes the molasses and butter into a glaze.
The skin is the dish
Baking in the shell holds each square together and keeps the flesh moist, and it means no peeling, the hardest job with winter squash.
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Step by step
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Step 2
Cut the squash crosswise where the neck meets the bulb, stand each piece on its flat end and cut it in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds and stringy fibers. Leave the skin on.
- Step 3
Cut the squash into 2-inch squares (the curved pieces will be roughly square) and set them skin side down on the baking sheet in one layer.
- Step 4
Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Spoon 1/2 tsp molasses and 1/2 tsp melted butter over each square.
- Step 5
Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.
- Step 6
Uncover, spoon any pooled juices back over the squash and bake about 20 minutes more, until a knife slides in easily and the tops are glazed and browned at the edges.
✓ What it should look like - Step 7
Serve hot in the skin, the way Farmer does; guests scoop the squash out with a spoon.
Molasses-Baked Winter Squash (Boston Cooking-School, 1896)
Serves 6 · about 24 squares · 1 hr 10 min total
- 1 large butternut squash (about 3 lb), or a Hubbard or kabocha of the same weight
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) molasses (1/2 tsp for each of about 24 squares)
- 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) butter, melted (1/2 tsp for each square)
Equipment: Oven, Rimmed baking sheet, Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Aluminum foil
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Cut the squash crosswise where the neck meets the bulb, stand each piece on its flat end and cut it in half from top to bottom. Scoop out the seeds and stringy fibers. Leave the skin on.
- Cut the squash into 2-inch squares (the curved pieces will be roughly square) and set them skin side down on the baking sheet in one layer.
- Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Spoon 1/2 tsp molasses and 1/2 tsp melted butter over each square.
- Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake 30 minutes.
- Uncover, spoon any pooled juices back over the squash and bake about 20 minutes more, until a knife slides in easily and the tops are glazed and browned at the edges.
- Serve hot in the skin, the way Farmer does; guests scoop the squash out with a spoon.
Adapted from "Baked Winter Squash I" in Fannie Farmer, "The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" (Project Gutenberg text of the 1906 printing). Farmer gives no amount of squash, no pan size and no oven temperature ("moderate oven"); the 3-pound butternut squash, the 350°F oven, the foil and the sheet pan are ours. Her molasses and butter per square, timings and method are kept. Project Gutenberg. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Make-ahead (ours): cut the squash Wednesday and refrigerate it in a covered container. Bake Thursday; it can go in the oven with the rolls at 350°F.
- Molasses varies: light (mild) molasses tastes of caramel; blackstrap is bitter and too strong here.
- Farmer's other way: halve the squash, bake it covered about 2 hours in a slow oven, then scoop, mash and season with butter, salt and pepper ("Baked Winter Squash II").
- Butternut skin is thin enough to eat once roasted, if you like.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Sweet potato casserole is the old Thanksgiving orange side. Disputed: Fannie Farmer's 1896 Thanksgiving menu has squash and squash pie, not sweet potatoes; the site's sweet potato casserole page has that dish's own history.
- Squash was on the 1621 table. Folklore: likely, since the Wampanoag grew it, but nobody wrote it down; a Plimoth account summarized in search results lists stewed pumpkin among likely Wampanoag dishes.
- Pumpkin pie is really squash pie. Folklore with a grain of truth: Farmer's menu lists "Squash Pie", and pumpkins are a kind of squash; the site's pumpkin pie hub covers it.
- You must peel winter squash. Documented false for this recipe: Farmer serves it in the shell.
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