This recipe is a bit involved but it produces the most amazing pumkin bread you've ever tasted. Its like eating pumkin soup and the chilli flakes make it extra tasty.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of boiled pumkin cubes
- 2 Cups of strong white bread flour
- 1 Cup of wholemeal bread flour
- 1 Cup of Spring Water
- 3 Tablespoons pumkin seeds
- 2 Tablespoons of poppy seeds
- 1 Tablespoon of chilli flakes or chopped chillies
- 4 Tablespoons virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon of sugar
- 1/4 Teaspoon of yeast granules
Also
- 2 Square Loaf Tins (medium)
- Brush for oiling tins.
- Big bowl.
- Plastic spatula (or spoon)
THE NIGHT BEFORE
You'll need to prepare the bread mix the night before you intend to bake it, this is to take advantage of the 'No Knead' method of producing superior bread with low yeast content and great taste.
1. You'll need to boil and mash the pumpkin cubes if you havent already done so. Then get 1 cup of spring water and heat it in the microwave so its slightly hot to touch (about 30 sec or 1 min if its been in the fridge). Dissolve 1 tablespoon of sugar in it and then add 1/4 teaspoon of yeast granules. Pour this into a bigger glass or a bowl and dissolve the mashed pumkin into it, dont worry if its a bit lumpy.
NOTE: Tap water is chlorinated and will kill the yeast so avoid using it or your bread won't rise.
2. Pour the 2 cups of white flour and 1 cup of wholemeal into a big bowl, add the sea salt, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds and chilli flakes. Mix the dry ingredients and create a hole in the middle. Fill the hole with the olive oil, and the bowl/glass of yeasted water you created in Step 1 above.
3. Mix in the ingredients, you may need to add some more bottled water at this point to ensure that the dough is wet enough so that it sticks to the sides of the bowl. Using a bread mix that is wet and a long proofing time means you wont have to knead the bread.
4. Cover the bowl with a plate or cling wrap and leave overnight at room temperature (or if you have a slightly warm room like a boiler cupboard even better), I normally put this in the oven after firing it for 1 minute to raise the temperature above 30 degrees and leave it overnight for 10-14 hours to rise.
THE NEXT DAY (10-14 HRS LATER)
Your bread dough should have doubled in size overnight and be full of bubbles. A bit of kneading is needed at this point to introduce some flour into the mix, this will make your bread slightly easier to handle.
1. Oil two square loaf tins and flour them evenly with a mix of poppy seeds and wholemeal flour. This step is not really needed if your loaf tins are non-stick, but it will give the bread a nice look and feel.
2. Put a layer of flour and seeds (poppy and pumpkin) and chilli flakes on a clean surface, then use a plastic spatula to pour the bread dough on it. Flour up your hands well and keep folding the dough over on itself and adding more flour and seeds about 10-15 times until it looses its stickyness and can be handled. Cut the bread in half, make a ball with each half place them in the loaf tins.
3. Put the loaf tins in a warm place (I used a slighly warmed oven) to rise a second time for an hour or two (generally I wait until each dough ball has doubled in size again). Be careful at this point as any sudden movement or banging will cause the bread to lose air and flop over.
4. When ready, take the risen bread tins out of the oven and put some more poppy seeds and pumkin seeds over the top. Heat the oven to 200C and put the bread tins into it. Add a glass of water to an oven tray while the bread is baking to give it an extra crunchy crust.
5. The bread will take about 25-30 minutes to cook. You can check its ready by tapping the bottom of it, it should make a hollow sound.
6. Cool the bread in a wire rack for 10 minutes before eating.