Pumpkin Bread

Pumpkin Bread
Big Sur Bakery

Ingredients:

1 pound canned pumpkin puree

10 whole spice berries

4 whole cloves

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

2 teaspoons ground ginger

2 teaspoons active dry yeast

4 3/4 cups bread flour, plus extra

    for dusting

1 tablespoon plus teaspoon 

    powdered milk

1 egg

1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons packed

    brown sugar

1 tablespoon fine sea salt

1/4 cup butter, softened

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Directions:

Start the night before:  Put the pumpkin puree in a sheet of cheesecloth.  Bundle it and tie it.  Put a rack inside a large pan, suspend the bundle over the rack, and let it drain in the refrigerator overnight to release the excess moisture, leaving behind only the dense pulp.

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The next day remove the pan from the refrigerator.  Discard the liquid collected in the bottom and reserve the pulp in the cheesecloth.

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Grind the allspice and cloves in a spice grinder, and combine with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

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Pour 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons lukewarm water into a bowl and rain the yeast over it.  Stir and set aside to activate for 5 minutes.

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In an electric mixer bowl fitted with a dough hook attachment, combine the yeast mixture with 3 cups flour and the powdered milk, egg, brown sugar, sea salt and pumpkin puree on a very low speed.  Over a one-minute period, add the spice mixture and the remaining 1 3/4 cup flour, a scoop at a time.  Add the butter and mix until combined.  Turn the speed up to medium and mix for 2 minutes.  Stop the mixer and scrape down the mixer bowl with a rubber spatula (the dough should be sticky), and then mix on high for 5 minutes.  The dough will become shiny, somewhat firm, and less sticky.  Transfer the dough to a bowl that's large enough for the dough to double in size.  Place the bowl in a large plastic bag, tie it loosely, and set it aside in a warm place in the kitchen until the dough has doubled in size, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

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Turn the dough onto a floured surface and divide it in half.  Pinch off a nugget of dough about the size of a walnut from each of these halves; these will be used as the stems of the pumpkins.  At this point you should have two large pieces of dough and two walnut sized pieces.  Flatten each of the dough pieces of dough with the palm of your hand and roll them into loose balls.  Cover with a plastic bag and let them rest for 10 to 15 minutes.

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Reshape the dough into tight balls.  Line two medium bowls with a linen napkin and dust them generally with flour.  Place one of the large dough balls in each bowl.  Top each large ball with a small dough ball.  Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise a warm spot in the kitchen until double in size, about 1 to 1/2 hours.

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Meanwhile, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and put a baking stone on it.  Place a cast iron skillet on the bottom rack of the oven and fill it with water (to increase the moisture inside the oven).  Preheat the oven to 450^F.

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Gently turn one of the pumpkin breads into your hands.  Put the bread on a pizza peel (a flat wooden or metal shovel with a long handle) with stem side up.  With a razor blade or a sharp knife, make 1/4 inch deep cuts in the bread from the stem to the bottom, to create ribs of the pumpkin.  Immediately slide the bread onto the baking stone.  Reduce the oven temperature to 375^F and bake 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown.

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While the first pumpkin bread is baking, place the second one in a cooler spot to prevent it from over-proofing.

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The bread is done when a thermometer placed in the center registers 200^F.  Transfer it to a wire rack and let it cool at least one-hour before cutting.

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Repeat the process for baking the second pumpkin.

Yield: two loaves