Butternut – A Trove of Recipes
Of all the native American nut trees, the butternut (Jugians cinerea) may be the most imperiled. A fungal disease, commonly known as Butternut canker, has put the forest stands into decline. Indeed, it has wiped out the populations in North and South Carolina. West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee are now the southern states with the most robust groves. In Kentucky it is on a watch list and is considered threatened in Tennessee. Like the Chestnut, the Butternut has inspired a conservation effort that takes the form of hybridizing the Native tree with a foreign one, in this case, the disease resistant Japanese walnut. These crosses and then bred again with Butternut to produce a tree that is predominately. Details of the effort: https://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-421-W.pdf
An oily, mellow tasting nut, the butternut (or white walnut) inspired many culinary applications—from ice creams to breads. A decoction from the leaves was administered to people who needed to purge. There are numbers of recipes devoted to the butternut—here are some of the more traditional an interesting. The taste pairing with maple sugar is particularly noteworthy.
If you do not have a nut cracker, whack the pointed end of the butternut sharply with a hammer.
Butternut Cake
Four eggs beaten separately; two cups sugar, one of butter, one cup butternut meats, one-half cup sweet milk, two and one-half cups flour (heaped), one teaspoonful soda, two of cream tartar. Rub the black scales off from the meats before putting them in the cake. Bake in two loaves.
Jackson Michigan Citizen (May 9, 1876), 4.
Butternut Cake
1 lb. flour, ¾ lb. butter, 2 cups sugar, 8 eggs, 1 teaspoon Royal Baking Powder, 3 teaspoons Royal Extract Lemon, 1 qt. butternut pits; bake 1 hour.
Mary S. Soper, My Favorite Receipt (Royal Baking Powder Company, 1886), 117.
Butternut Candy
Two cups of maple sugar and half a cup of cream. Boil until it threads, stir in a cup of nuts, take from the fire, a pour into buttered pans. When nearly cool, cut into squares.
Mrs. C. A. Gale, The Dewey Cook Book (Montpelier, VT: YMCA, 1899), 128.
Butternut Catsup
The butternuts should be young, and tender enough to be readily pieced with a large needle. Prick each in three or four places, allow salt in the proportion of two tablespoonfuls to twenty-five butternuts, and lay salt and nuts in a jar with enough water to cover them. Leave them in this for a fortnight, pounding them every day with a wooden mallet or potato beetle. At the end of that time strain off the liquor into a preserving kettle, cover the nuts with boiling vinegar, pound them in this thoroughly, and strain the liquid into the other. Measure it, and for every quart add a tablespoonful, each, of ginger and black pepper, a dessert-spoonful, each of cloves and mace, a teaspoonful, each, of finely minced onion and grated horse-radish, and a pinch of cayenne. Boil for an hour, cool, bottle, and seal. Good in two months.
Marion Harland, The National Cook Book (1896), 507.
Butternut and Celery Salad
Use two cups of crisp celery, cut into half-inch pieces, and one cut of nut meats; dress with mayonnaise. A tart apple, cut in tiny cubes makes an excellent addition.
“Seasonable Nut Recipes,” Baltimore American (November 12, 1905), 30.
Butternut Maple Pudding
One tablespoon of pulverized gelatin wet with one-half cup of cold water, one cup of maple sugar cooked with one-half cut of hot water three minutes. Pour it over the gelatin and stir until dissolved. When it begins to stiffen stir in nearly a cup of butternut meats and the white of one egg beaten stiff. Serve in frappe cups with whipped cream and sugar.
A.P.M., Boston Herald (May 13, 1910), 7.
Butternut Pie
One quart of milk, two eggs, a coffee-cupful of pulverized butternut meats, and a little sugar and nutmeg.
“General Domestic Recipes,” Genesee Farmer 20 (Rochester, 1859), 65.
Butternut Pie
Pour one-half cup boiling water over one cup seeded raisins, let stand until cook, then water should be absorbed, Take one cup thick sour cream, stir in one cup granulated sugar, break in one egg and beat until light and fluffy and add the raisins, one-third teaspoon vanilla, a tiny pinch of salt and one-half cup butternut meats.
Bake in an undercrust and cover with meringue.
Mrs. William Prange, Cleveland Plain Dealer (February 4, 1930), 19.
Butternut and Potato Stuffing
Add a quart of mashed and beaten potato, two quarts of fine bread crumbs, a cupful and a half butternut meats, blanched and chopped: a level teaspoonful of salt, a half teaspoonful of pepper, a tablespoon of mixed herb seasoning, a half cup of cream and two beaten eggs.
Washington Evening Star (September 19, 1904), 27.