'Tis the season for pumpkins, gourds, and winter squash of all kinds. The stores and produce baskets are full of a wonderful variety of hubbards, acorn squash, pie pumpkins, and all kinds of other wonderful stuff beyond the ever-present butternuts and spaghetti squash. I even got a long pie pumpkin!

Canned pumpkin has also suddenly gone on sale, so I've been stocking up on that as well.

I haven't had a chance to crack open the long pie pumpkin yet (although I do have plans for it). In the meantime, I've been enjoying checking off some of the canned pumpkin recipes that I'd been waiting for a chance to try. I still have a few more queued up, but I'm trying to spread them out a little.

After I made the pumpkin pancakes, I was hoping to find a pumpkin bread recipe in my Bernard Clayton book to use up the leftover pumpkin purée. And there was, indeed, a pumpkin bread recipe in the vegetable chapter. However, it was for a sweet quick bread, rather than a yeasted bread like I'd been hoping for. Don't get me wrong, I still made it and it was very good! I just really wanted to try making a yeast-leavened pumpkin bread.

Fortunately, the Internet and another tin of pumpkin pur&e;e sorted out that particular desire. I found this recipe for an adorable yeasted pumpkin loaf on the Food Network website. The dough is quite wet and soft, so it can be a bit difficult to handle, but the results are excellent. This recipe produces a rich, tender, slightly sweet, and lightly spiced loaf that comes out almost like a brioche (without all the butter)! I really like it. And, while tying the strings to produce the pumpkin shape was a bit fiddly, it wasn't so bad that I wouldn't do it again in the future. Especially when it produces such fun results!

Pumpkin Bread

Slightly adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

• 1/4 c. milk
• 3/4 c. pumpkin purée
• 1/4 c. brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, divided
• 400g all-purpose flour, divided
• 3 1/2 tsp. instant yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast)
• 1 tsp. coarse sea salt
• 1 tsp. mixed spice or pumpkin pie spice
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 (3"/7cm) cinnamon stick
• 1 tsp. water

Directions

1. If using traditional (active dry yeast): Warm the milk to ~45°C (~115°F), sprinkle in the yeast, and let stand for 5 minutes first. Then proceed as directed.
   If using instant yeast: Combine the milk, pumpkin purée, sugar, and one of the eggs and mix well.
2. In a large bowl, combine 360g of the flour, yeast (if using instant), salt, and spices and mix well.
3. Make a well in the centre and pour in the wet ingredients.
4. Gradually incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet, working from the centre outward.
5. Sprinkle the rest of the flour on the work surface and tip the dough out onto it.
6. Knead the dough for ~5 minutes, gradually working in the remaining flour.
7. Once all the flour has been incorporated, pour the oil onto the work surface and continue kneading the dough until the oil has been incorporated.
8. Continue kneading until the dough becomes supple and elastic and less prone to tearing. Add small sprinkles of additional flour if necessary, but use a light hand and be careful not to add too much. The dough should be very soft!
9. Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place in a covered bowl to rise for 60-90 minutes (depending on room temperature).
10. Knock the dough back, knead it for a few strokes, and shape into a smooth ball.
11. Grease a baking sheet and place three pieces of cooking twine on it. The pieces of twine should be 50-60cm long and arranged in a * pattern so that you have six rays radiating out from a central point.
12. Place the dough ball on top of the twine star so that it is centred over the centre of the star.
13. Tie the twine together above the top of the dough ball. Leave a gap of several cm so that the dough has room to expand.
14. Push the cinnamon stick down into the centre of the dough so that it protrudes near where the twine is tied. This will be the stem of the pumpkin.
15. Carefully cover and set aside to rise for 30-45 minutes.
16. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F).
17. Beat the remaining egg with the water and gently brush the egg wash onto the risen dough. Try to cover the whole surface of the dough while avoiding getting egg on either the baking sheet or the twine.¹
18. Bake at 180°C (350°F) for ~30 minutes.
19. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

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¹ Egg on the twine will make it more difficult to remove from the bread once it's baked and egg on the baking sheet makes the bread more difficult to get off the pan. ^Back