An enthusiastic group of bakers joined with Michelle of BigBlackDogs to bake breads from the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book.
The challenge doesn’t officially begin until January due to everyone’s hectic schedule during the holidays; however, the authors have provided us with some bonus breads to bake in the meantime.
The featured bread for November is Pumpkin Pie Brioche.
Pumpkin Pie Brioche
The authors requested that no recipes from the book be posted on the Internet; however, they did share the recipe for the pumpkin pie brioche. Unfortunately, the site that had the recipe, BigBlackDogs, is no longer available.
This was my first attempt at making any of the breads in the Healthy Bread in Five Minutes book. I made the brioche with home-milled white wheat flour and commercial all-purpose flour. The first time I made the dough, I used vegetable oil and roasted pumpkin puree that I prepared and froze last December. The dough was really wet but the loaf turned out a little bit dry. You can see in the picture below. It tasted great; however, I thought it should be a little bit softer.
Although my first attempt with the bread seemed dry at first, it actually softened up a bit the next day. I tried it as French Toast, as regular toast with homemade peach butter and as a PB&J sandwich (with yummy pear butter). It tasted great each time! My test for loaf breads is whether or not the bread tastes good as a PB&J and this one definitely does… even though it fell apart with every bite. 😉
I decided to make this bread again with some substitutions to see the difference. I’ve documented my second attempt below:
2nd Attempt: Saturday, Nov. 14th
For my second attempt at this brioche, I used a combination of home-milled flour and commercial flour again but this time I weighed it to make sure I had the right amount. I had this same issue with other no knead breads I’ve made recently so I’ve found that the key to working with these types of bread is to the weigh the flour and not rely on the measuring cup. I can usually get away with just using a measuring cup for kneaded breads because it’s pretty easy to adjust the water/flour ratio when you’re kneading the dough.
Mixing and storing the dough:
Whisk together the flours, yeast, salt and vital wheat gluten in a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded (not airtight) food container. Add the remaining ingredients and mix without kneading. I started out using a wooden spoon, then switched to my Danish dough whisk.
The dough will be loose, but it will firm up when chilled (don’t try to use it without chilling). Cover, and allow to rest at room temperature until dough rises and collapses, approximately 2 hours.
Refrigerate in a non-airtight lidded container and use over the next 5 days. I left the dough in the bowl, covered with plastic wrap and placed it in the refrigerator since I was planning on making it the next day anyway.
On baking day, grease a brioche or 8½x4½-inch non-stick loaf pan. Cut off a 2-pound piece of dough.
Dust with flour and quickly shape it into a ball.
Bake near the center of the oven for approximately 45 minutes. Brioche will not form a hard crackling crust. Loaf is done when medium brown and firm. Smaller or larger loaves will require adjustments in resting and baking time. Remove from the pan and allow to cool before slicing or eating.
You might enjoy some of the other breads I’ve made using the Pumpkin Pie Brioche dough. This is one of my favorite HBn5 doughs.
You’re second bread appears like it has a better crumb then the first bread.
One of the reasons your dough may have been wetter is because you used your home roasted pumpkin. Pumpkins vary greatly with water content and it’s difficult to tell just how wet the variety of pumpkin you used until you’ve mixed up the dough.
Do you mill your own flour? What kind of Flour Mill do you use?
Yes, the 2nd bread definitely has better crumb and part of the problem was the pumpkin puree. For the first batch, I used puree that I had pureed in the blender and froze. For the second batch, I roasted a pumpkin and put it through the food mill so the texture was not as liquefied. That, and reducing the amount of water made a huge difference.
I mill my own whole wheat flour but not all flour – yet. I use a Wonder Mill.
you did a great job….i wouldn’t even know what I could adjust or not when it comes to making bread.
Your bread looks wonderful! Thanks for all those links. I loved the idea of baking them in flower pots. Great idea for giving away the bread! What sive pots did you use? 6 inch? 4 inch?
Good for you for giving it another go. Your bread looks great!
Loaf looks great! I love all the picture detail – very nice!
Great job. I love the idea of doing a bread pudding and I would love to see how that turns out. It all looks great 😀
I like the substitutions you made to your second loaf! I’ve been considering buying a food scale…I guess it might actually be worthwhile. Good idea to turn it into a bread pudding, sounds awesome.
Also – the PB+J test – works every time. I am a PBJ addict. 😀
Danielle, Megan, Lu, Bread Over Heels (love that!), Kim and Joanne, thank you so much! I can tell this is going to be an awesome group!
Megan, I believe the size of the flower pot is 5 inches by 5 inches.
Wow…I am learning more and more with each persons post! Yours looks amazing 😀
I admire your perseverance. I love bread pudding and imagine yours will bbe fantastic.
Looks wonderful………..I just got company from CA so not sure if I get a chance to make it soon.
Very interesting – I wouldn’t even dream of milling my own flour! You got a really nice end-result.
Thanks girlichef, Judy, Nancy and RJ Flamingo! This is going to be a fun ride! I can already tell.
I can see you have been a part of a great group of bread bakers.
Thanks for the step by step directions. Your pictures explain everything!
Thanks for stopping by Jane. Yes, this is a great group. Hope you’ll be joining us.
This bread would be so yummy as bread pudding, I think. I’ve never actually attempted bread pudding, but my mom has a yummy recipe she makes with a whiskey sauce. Mmm…
My personal philosophy with bread making that helps me not to stress too much over the fine details has become, “It ain’t rocket science!” People have been doing it for centuries without special training, so I can do it as well! Even flops are edible for the most part, but I’m not going to blow up the kitchen if I mess up a loaf. (I hope!)
~Jenny~
Jenny, You’re absolutely right! I’ve also found that the birds love my creations even when noone else does. 😉
What a great job you did on the how-to’s! I plan on making some bread pudding with the 2 loaves I have in the freezer and definiately more French toast 🙂
~Susan
Thanks Susan! I still have enough dough for one more loaf – not sure if want to make cinnamon crescent rolls or something different. We’ll see.