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Squash Biscuits
1/2 cup squash (steamed and sifted) 1/4 cup sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup scalded milk 1/4 yeast cake dissolved in 1/4 cup lukewarm water 1/4 cup butter 2 1/2 cups flour Add squash, sugar, salt, and butter to milk; when lukewarm, add dissolved yeast cake and flour; cover, and let rise over night. In morning shape into biscuits, let rise, and bake.
An overnight sponge-free dough leavened with a very small amount of yeast, in the style of a soft dinner roll rather than a baking-powder biscuit. The squash keeps the crumb moist and slightly sweet.
- The hinge: keep it cool overnightA quarter yeast cake is a deliberately tiny amount, meant to work slowly for eight to twelve hours in an unheated kitchen. In a modern 70F room the dough will over-ferment and taste sour; set it in the coolest spot you have, or refrigerate it and let it come back to room temperature in the morning.
- Yeast cakeCompressed yeast cakes of this period were commonly around 0.6 oz, though sizes varied, so a quarter cake works out at roughly 4 g of fresh yeast, or about 1/2 teaspoon of active dry yeast. Dissolve it in the 1/4 cup of lukewarm water as directed.
- SquashThis means winter squash — Hubbard, butternut or similar — steamed until tender and pushed through a sieve, not summer squash. Canned pumpkin or squash puree works, but drain it if it looks wet, since excess moisture will slacken the dough.
- Scalded milkScalding is usually explained as deactivating enzymes and whey proteins in raw milk that weaken gluten; with pasteurised milk it is generally held to be unnecessary. Here it also melts the butter and dissolves the sugar, so heating the milk remains convenient. Cool to lukewarm before the yeast goes in or you will kill it.
- FlourTwo and a half cups is a starting point. Squash puree varies in moisture, so expect to work in a little more flour to get a soft, slightly tacky dough that holds a shape.
- Oven temperatureNone is given. Bake at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes, until the tops are deep gold and the biscuits sound hollow when tapped underneath.
- The morning riseAfter shaping, allow 45 minutes to an hour in a warm room — the dough is cold and enriched with butter and sugar, so it moves slowly. Bake when the biscuits look visibly puffed and spring back slowly to a fingertip.
- YieldAbout a dozen biscuits from this quantity, depending on how large you shape them. They are best the day they are baked and reheat well.