November – Autumn or Winter?
We’re officially one week into November and it’s starting to get cold here in the UK! It always makes me wonder how people classify autumn versus winter. Are we in the winter season yet? I will probably be breaking out the winter coat soon, so maybe that indicates that we are. On the other hand, I tend to base my life on holidays, and Christmas season doesn’t start until the end of November for me. Controversial, I know, but the American side of our family and childhood means we can’t help but wait until after Thanksgiving to start putting up decorations and playing Christmas music. If you’re already gearing up for the holidays though, by all means go for it! And prepare yourself for our Christmas content 😍
Seasonal Recipes
Regardless of what season you deem it to be, we are still in autumn/fall mode. And that means sharing some more seasonal recipes with you! To me, autumn recipes are hearty and warm, fattening you up for the winter ahead (just kidding…kind of). In the fall, give me all the soups, stews, pasta dishes, curries, and slow-cooked meals you can think of. When it’s cold outside, there’s nothing better than staying inside and preparing a delicious meal to enjoy later on in the day. In terms of baking, autumn is peak bread-baking time. I think cold weather just means we all slow down a bit, and baking bread is a slow process, or at least a slower one than baking brownies or cakes. That’s why our recipe today is a simple loaf of bread but with a fun twist – it’s a pumpkin-shaped loaf!
Delicious and Fluffy Bread
Luckily, this loaf of bread looks beautiful and tastes even better. The small amount of whole wheat flour in it gives it a bit more depth of flavor than if it were just made with white flour (always something we suggest adding when making bread dough!). The methods we use in the recipe below, which includes options for both Dutch oven owners and those without, mean that your loaf will develop the most beautiful crispy crust while still staying soft and fluffy inside. The shape of the bread lends itself perfectly to go along with a hearty soup or stew, as you can simply cut a wedge of bread to serve alongside the main dish! Seriously – if you’re looking for yummy bread and a cute way of displaying it – this is the recipe for you.
Baking with Yeast – Tips & Tricks
Now, if you aren’t too familiar with yeast, don’t worry! We will give you a quick rundown of the basics. It’s important to know that yeast is a living thing, and temperatures that are too hot will kill it. What does this mean for your bread? It means it won’t rise, and nobody wants dense and gummy bread. That’s why we emphasize that the water you add should be warm but not hot. A good guide is using your finger: if the water hurts your finger, it’s too hot. It should feel comfortably warm. Next, always check the instructions on the yeast packet/jar you are using, as different types of yeast require you to combine the ingredients differently. Instant yeast can just go directly into your dry ingredients, while it’s recommended that active dry yeast is dissolved in a warm liquid first. For more info, you can always check out our blog posts all about baking with yeast and baking bread.
Ingredients
What ingredients will you need to bake this fun pumpkin loaf? It doesn’t get much simpler than this: yeast, sugar, water, salt, and flour for the dough, and twine and oil to get the shape right. We use a combination of whole wheat and white flour, as we think this gives the best taste, but you can use what you have on hand. I have previously added rye and spelt flour instead of whole wheat, and they are also delicious! Or simply use all white flour – it won’t affect the final result too much. As mentioned above, do make sure your water is warm to the touch, but not burning hot. Adding a warm liquid helps feed the yeast and your dough will rise more easily. Finally, you can omit the sugar or replace it with another sweetener like honey or golden syrup – we find that a bit of sugar just helps the yeast come to life and also contributes a nice flavor to the bread.
Instructions
In terms of baking the bread, this is the same as our basic country bread (landbrød) recipe, so it is seriously easy. It doesn’t even require any kneading! We start by mixing our dough and letting it rest for 30 minutes before completing our first stretch and fold. The stretch and fold method is simply a way of developing gluten that you do over time, while the dough rises, instead of kneading it at the beginning. This is because this bread has a higher hydration level and the dough is too wet to knead, which you might find easier to do when it comes to dough for a sandwich loaf. The higher hydration means a final bread with more of an open structure – think artisan bread loaf or sourdough!
So, two stretch and folds later and your dough is ready to be pre-shaped. It then rests for 10 minutes before the final shaping. In the meantime, cut the twine into four long pieces and dip in neutral oil. Once you have completed the final shaping of the dough, arrange the twine and flip the dough onto it. Tie the twine around the dough as described and shown in the recipe below. Score it and bake! When the bread expands in the oven, it will create the fun pumpkin shape. Enjoy!
Pumpkin Shaped Bread Loaf
Ingredients
- 2 tsp instant yeast (2.25 tsp active dry yeast, 17.5g fresh yeast)
- 3/4 tbsp sugar
- 300 ml warm water
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 100 grams whole wheat flour
- 300 grams bread or all purpose flour
- Butcher's twine
- Neutral oil
Instructions
- Combine the yeast and the warm water in a large bowl. If using active dry or fresh yeast, add the sugar as well, then let the mixture sit for a bit (5-10 mins) until it starts to bubble up then move on to step 2. If using instant yeast, you can move on to the next step without waiting.
- Add the sugar (unless you already added it to the active dry/fresh yeast), salt, whole wheat flour, and bread (or all purpose) flour to the water and yeast mixture.
- Stir until you have a scraggly dough and have saturated most of the dry spots. If the dough is feeling wet at this point (if it saturated the flour quickly and is very sticky), be sure to add a few more tablespoons of flour! Alternatively, if the dough is very dry, add a tiny bit more water!
- Once the dough is ready, cover the bowl and let this rise somewhere warm for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, complete your first stretch and fold. Instead of kneading this bread, you are just going to do what is called a stretch and fold. Basically, with slightly damp hands (just run them under water briefly) you will pull up the dough by placing your hands under the left and right side of the dough and stretching it up and out along the edge of the bowl farthest from you. See the process photo!
- Then, fold the dough over itself towards you, pressing it down towards the edge of the bowl closest to you. Rotate the bowl 90 degrees (either way), and repeat three more times, rotating each time (for a total of four folds). See this great blog post from The Clever Carrot for more help with this technique! Once you have completed this first set of stretching and folding, let the dough rise again (covered) for another 30 minutes.
- After the second 30 minutes, complete the second stretch and fold by repeating the same steps above. Let the dough rise again (covered) for 15 more minutes.
- Now you are going to pre-shape the dough. Sprinkle some flour onto a countertop or work surface and tip out your dough onto the surface.
- Roughly shape your dough into a ball. Then, pull the sides into the middle gently, pinching them together at the top like you were shaping a very large bread roll.
- Flip the whole loaf over again on the surface so the seam is facing down. Cover with a towel or cling film and let this rise for another 10 minutes.
- While the dough is resting, cut 4 long pieces of butcher's twine. Add a few tablespoons of neutral oil to a plate and put the pieces of twine into the oil to soak.
- After 10 minutes, you are going to complete the final shaping of the loaf. Flip the loaf over again so that the seam is facing you. Repeat what you did before – pulling in the sides and pinching them together – but this time, you can be a bit less gentle. You really want to make sure the loaf doesn't spread and you create the necessary surface tension on the dough's surface to get a good rise in the oven.
- Place the oil soaked strings on a table or on a parchment lined baking sheet (try to squeeze off any excess oil as well) – place one string down first, the next at a forty five degree angle to the first, and the third at another forty five degree angle, and again with the last. You should be left with 8 equal sized sections.
- Flip the loaf over again so the seam is facing down; brush the top with flour, dusting off any excess, and then transfer on top of the twine, right in the center.
- Tie the pieces of twine together across the loaf (tie the opposite ends of the strings together). It should create eight even sized sections on the loaf.
- Cut off any excess string.
- Now, transfer the loaf to a parchment lined baking sheet and put the loaf into the fridge to rise for 20 minutes, covered (this makes it easier to score and helps prevent over proofing, but feel free to leave them at room temperature if your fridge doesn't have space!).
- While the dough is in the fridge, set your oven to 450 F (230 C) and place a metal or cast iron pan/tray on the bottom rack of the oven to heat up and start boiling some water (1-2 cups) on the stove or in a kettle. Make sure you have a second rack in the oven set above the tray. If you are using a Dutch oven, you don't need to do this, but put your Dutch oven with the lid on into the oven to preheat! Don't forget this step as putting a cold Dutch oven directly into a hot oven could cause it to crack.
- After 20 minutes, remove the loaf from the fridge.
- Using a very sharp knife or razor blade, score the bread once along each of the eight sections. Try your best to score at a 45-degree angle or less about 1 inch into the loaves. Read more about scoring here.
- If using a Dutch oven, simply drop the loaf (on the parchment paper it's already sitting on) into the preheated (very hot!) Dutch oven, add the lid, and place into the oven. Bake for about 20 minutes with the lid on, then remove the lid for 5-10 minutes until the bread has formed a beautiful dark crust.
- If using a baking sheet and a metal pan/tray at the bottom of the oven, follow these instructions! While wearing oven mitts and being very careful, pour 1-2 cups of the boiling water into the pan in the bottom of the oven. Quickly place the baking sheet with the loaf into the oven on the rack above the metal tray and immediately close it. Bake for 25 minutes or until it has formed a dark crust.
- Once the bread has formed a lovely dark crust and sounds hollow when you tap it, remove from the oven and transfer to a cooling rack.
- After a few minutes, cut the string and remove it from the loaf.
- Let the bread cool for at least 30 or so minutes to an hour before slicing. Enjoy!
