Spiced Pumpkin Yeast Bread

 

We think of pumpkin bread as a cakey loaf good for snacking.  This is different.  Although it's a yeast bread with low sugar, I wouldn't go so far as to call it savory, but it would still be good in sandwiches. The original, King Arthur Flour recipe is made with all-purpose flour; the recipe I actually worked from uses Einkorn flour.

Here's what I used:

1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup warm milk
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin purée
1 tablespoon olive oil
3½ – 4 cups Einkorn wheat flour (2/3 white whole wheat, 1/3 AP)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup pecans, roughly chopped

In a large bowl, combine the liquid ingredients: water, milk, eggs, pumpkin, oil.  In a medium bowl, combine the 3 cups of Einkorn flour, brown sugar, salt, instant yeast, ginger, cardamom and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and beat vigorously for 2 minutes.  Gradually add remaining flour, a little at a time, until you have a dough stiff enough to knead.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface.  Knead, adding flour as necessary, until you have a smooth, elastic dough.  Put dough into an oiled bowl.  Turn once to coat the dough with oil.  Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Turn dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface.  Shape dough into a loaf and place in well-greased 9 x 5-inch pan.  Cover with a towel or plastic wrap and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.  Bake the loaf in a preheated 375°F oven about 30 minutes.  Check the internal temperature with an instant-read thermometer; a reading of 190°F means loaf is done. Immediately remove the loaf from the pan and cool on a wire rack to prevent crust from becoming soggy.  For a shiny crust, brush tops lightly with oil.

I didn't follow the directions exactly.  I threw all the wet ingredients into the dry mixture one by one (not pre-mixed) and then kneaded it in the food processor about 45 seconds in two batches (since the whole batch was too much for my processor.)  I then kneaded the dough by hand to incorporate the last ½ cup flour and the nuts.  I used the stretch and fold technique from this Honey Oatmeal Bread and let it prove in the refrigerator overnight before finishing the following day.

Conclusion:  Nice, but nothing to write home about.  Even though I doubled the spices, they were still pretty much undetectable, and the whole wheat overpowered the pumpkin flavor.  It needed a little more nuts, too.  It would be fine for sandwiches as it is, but for morning toast I'd want more flavor.

Recipe:  Einkorn Pumpkin Yeast Bread via Bread Experience, adapted from Pumpkin Yeast Bread via King Arthur Flour

Honey Oatmeal Bread

I'll occasionally indulge in a package of soft, white, commercial bread, usually because I'm craving a fluffer-nutter, or just need comfort food.  But when it comes to making bread myself, I can never seem to make a plain loaf of all white flour.  (Sweet breads, now that's a different story.  Bring on the white flour and sugar!)  So true to form, I substituted about half the flour for white whole wheat.  Because it's not like that little bit of oats in the recipe was going to add a lot of nutrients!  (And since it's basically just a honey wheat loaf, I think it could survive even as much as two-thirds whole wheat flour.)

Here is the source recipe:

1¼ cups/300 ml whole or 2% milk
2 oz/57 g old-fashioned rolled oats (not instant)
3 tbsp/43 g unsalted butter
1½  tsp/5 g instant yeast
2.12 oz/50 g honey
1½ tsp/7 g salt
12¼ oz/347 g all-purpose flour
1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
rolled oats, for topping

Day 1
Bring milk to a boil. Stir in oats and butter, and let sit for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice. Stir in instant yeast and honey, until well combined.  Add milk mixture to flour and salt in mixing bowl. Stir on low speed for 1 - 2 minutes (or with wooden spoon) until all flour is hydrated and shaggy mass forms. Let dough rest for 5 minutes.  Knead at medium-low speed for 6 minutes (or by hand). Dough will be a bit sticky, but don't add any more flour (always err on the wet side.)

Transfer dough to lightly oiled work surface; pat in a rough rectangle. With wet or oiled hands, stretch and fold dough in thirds, like a business letter. Then repeat the same stretching and folding in thirds from both sides.   Gather dough into a ball, tucking the sides underneath, and place it, smooth side up, into a greased bowl. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Repeat these stretches and folds (S & F) 3 more times, at 10 minute intervals.  After the last S & F, place dough in an oiled container with lid, and place in refrigerator overnight.

Day 2
Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before using, to warm up. Lightly grease 8½ x 4½-inch loaf pan.  Transfer dough on clean work surface. Placing your hands in the middle, gently press down to degas. Pat dough into a 7 x 10-inch rectangle. Roll up into a sandwich loaf, pinching seams to seal. Place, seam side down, in prepared loaf pan, then gently flatten with your hands to even it out.  Brush top with egg wash.  Using sharp knife, slash lengthwise. Sprinkle with rolled oats, then gently press with your hands to make sure they stick to the dough.

Preheat oven to 425ºF, adjusting rack to middle position. Mist loaf with baking spray, cover, and proof for 45 minutes, or until grown one and a half times its original size. (Poke dough gently with your finger - the dent should slowly come back a little bit, and stay visible, but not fill up again.)

Refresh the scoring if you want the slash to open wider during the bake.  Place bread in the middle of the oven, reduce temperature to 350ºF, and bake for 20 minutes. Rotate loaf for even browning, and continue baking for another 20 - 25 minutes, until top is golden brown and it registers at least 195ºF.  Remove from oven, turn out onto wire rack, and let cool.

 

The source baker reduced the honey from the original recipe by half (1/3 cup in the original) because she uses it for savory sandwiches, and reduced the yeast from 2¼ teaspoons (7g).  I followed the source, but split the difference on the honey and used about 70g.  My scoring technique needs some improvement -- for one, the cut shouldn't go all the way to the end, but should stop about an inch or so prior.  And I think I forgot to use the egg wash, because the topping oats certainly didn't stick.  (The original recipe doesn't use an egg wash, but rather brushes the baked loaf with butter.)

Conclusion:  This turned out really well.  The oatmeal, not surprisingly, was unnoticeable.  Next time I would use steel cut oats if I want some texture, although a soft, smooth loaf is nice sometimes.  Otherwise, I'm not sure what it added.  I think I would prefer the full 1/3 cup (100g) of honey called for in the original recipe, especially if using whole wheat flour.

Recipe:  Honey Oatmeal Bread via Brot and Bread, adapted from The Weekend Baker by Abby Dodge

Chocolate Rum Cake

 

1½ cups unsalted butter
3/4 lb bittersweet chocolate , broken
3 cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup dark rum
2 cups strong, brewed coffee
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2¼ cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup rum, for soaking cake (optional)

Preheat your oven to 300F.  Butter a 4½-inch-deep (12-cup) Bundt pan and dust with cocoa powder flour. In a medium pot, melt the butter; remove from heat and stir in the chocolate pieces. Cover and let melt. Meanwhile, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Stir the rum, vanilla extract, coffee, and sugar into the melted butter mixture. Slowly combine butter mixture with dry mixture (add about half, whisk until smooth, then add remainder.)  Add the eggs and beat until a smooth batter forms.  Scrape the sides as needed to work in all the flour.  Pour into Bundt pan and bake for 1 hour and 50 minutes.  (Be sure to leave at least one inch clear at the top of the Bundt pan so that it doesn’t overflow.)  Let the cake cool to room temperature on a rack, then turn out. Can be refrigerated for up to 3 days. (Optional: poke it all over with a skewer and sprinkle on a shot or two of extra rum. Be sure to let it sit overnight to soak it up evenly.)  Dust with a flurry of powdered sugar, slice thickly, and serve with a dollop of whipped cream.
 

This was a lot of cake--- it made a small extra loaf.  This could easily be reduced to 2/3 or 1/3 using a loaf pan.  I used the small airbake pan under the cake and had trouble getting the cake to release, so not a good idea.  Others also had trouble getting it out of the pan. (Recommended Baker’s Joy.)  The cake rose very high and crusted, then fell while cooling and the edges separated. 

Some interesting alternatives by other bakers:  some added more rum (1 cup) and let it mellow a day, and more chocolate (2-3 oz).  One added orange peel.  Some added more coffee, or used instant, or substituted espresso.  One frosted with cream cheese/whipped cream.

Conclusion:  Cake was very good; light and delicate, but very rich. Could have used a bit more salt, maybe ½ teaspoon.

Recipe:  Midnight Mocha Rum Cake via Global Table Adventure