Spiced Pumpkin Briochie

Next on the orange marathon list..... ‘petit brioche en tête’ packed full of pumpkin and spices.

I have never tasted nor made brioche before. I understand it is a classic French sweet bread, enriched with LOTS of eggs and butter. Depending on the percentage of butter used to flour, it can vary between a 'poor or lean' man bread (on the lower end of the scale - about 20%) and a 'rich' man bread (on the top end of the scale - up to 75% and sometimes more)!

Being a first timer, I decided to go all out with the 'traditional look' which comes with a little nob/cap/head on the top. I must confess that it wasn't as easy to shape as I had thought it would be. Especially after the final proof, you can tell I needed more practise shaping these sweet buns!!

I used the recipe from Jude's blog. In terms of spice I used all that had in the larder – teaspoonfuls of cinnamon, handful of ginger, pinch of cloves and a dash of nutmeg! When mixed, they all added to the wonderful aroma and taste of the bread. *big thumbs up* I also added some sunflower seeds into the dough mixture for a more interesting texture.

Be warned - the dough gets pretty sticky when you mix/knead in the pumpkin puree. Again, I used Bertinet's folding method to skip me through the messiness!! Hm, judging from these two experiences, if you do not mix in the pumpkin puree from the beginning, be prepared for a sticky mess! But its all worth the effort at the end. Jude shares that 'adding all of the pumpkin puree and butter at the beginning will inhibit gluten development', so take note.

I don't own any fancy flute moulds, only these which I use to make steamed kueh with, but they will just have to do ;)

My brioches, they do look a little unruly don't they - practically falling in every direction but up!! Ha ha

Well I think they each added their own personality to the crowd - M thought that if I squint my eyes hard enough, they could resemble some type of animals!! *For her sake, I hope they are not the ferocious kind!!* What do you think?? Lolz

M really enjoyed these delicate and tasty bread. I thought they were absolutely delicious! Tasty, eaten dunked into a hot cup of coffee!

Golden Pumpkin Bread

A good everyday bread, though a little on the plain side. By that comment, I mean the pumpkin taste/flavour was very light and subtitle. Other than the obvious orange colour, it could probably pass as a plain bread. Don't get me wrong, the bread was nice but don't expect a 'strong' pumpkin taste/flavour, ok.

Good with any sweet spreads or condiments of your preference.

Ingredients

Adapted from J.Shapter

150g pumpkin puree
90g milk
60g water
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
325g bread flour
50g cornmeal (note I used wholemeal flour instead and had to add a few extra tbsp of water to make the dough more pliable)
1 tbsp maple syrup
3/4 tsp instant yeast
1 tbsp pumpkin or sunflower seeds

Kneading

Except for pumpkin puree and seeds, mix and knead all ingredients into a smooth dough.

Resting

50 min – 1 hour.

Turn out dough and gently knead in pumpkin puree and seeds. Note that the dough will be very sticky. I nearly gave up here and thought I had a disaster on my hand. Decided to use Bertinet’s way of folding the dough and after a couple of minutes, I had much smoother dough. Cover and leave to rest for another 1 hour.

Final proofing

Turn dough out, should be very pliable and smooth. Shape and proof for 1 hour or until almost double in bulk.

Baking

180C for about 30 min or until base of bread sounds hollow. Turn out onto wire rack to cool.

Side note - Clearest way of understanding the folding method the Bertinet's way is getting a hold of his DVD which comes with both his bread books. Alternatively, fellow blogger Bakingsoda gives a good step by step picture illustration.