Pumpkin Cinnamon Raisin Sourdough Bread

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Both times I made this it turned out great. The smell of this loaf when it's baking is somehow better than every other loaf I make. The resulting loaf is kind of yellow, and it doesn't taste like pumpkin, but the crust is silky and the crumb is fluffy. I've just been eating it raw, but it's also great toasted.

I think I might stop making pumpkin pies and start making this bread instead.

This recipe uses a sourdough starter and is for baking in a covered teracotta romertopf baking pan. See the notes for modifying it to use active dry yeast and a conventional pan.


Total Preparation Time

Total preparation time is ~20 hours but only 30-40min of effort. Most of the time is spent waiting for the dough to rise.

  • Mix levain - 5min
  • Let the levain sit overnight - 10-12 hours
  • Mixing - 15min
  • First proof - 6-8 hours
  • Folding and rolling the dough - 10min
  • Second proof - 2-3 hours
  • Baking - 40min

Ingredients

  • All purpose flour - 200g
  • Bread flour - 200g
  • Salt - 8g
  • Sugar - 40g
  • Cinnamon - 3g
  • Sourdough Starter - 18g
  • Water - 140g
  • Milk - 80g
  • Sourdough Starter - 18g
  • Pumpkin purée - 120g
  • Butter (unsalted) - 60g
  • Raisins - 80g

Method

  1. Prepare levain the night before:
    • All purpose flour - 46g
    • Sugar - 9g
    • Water - 46g
    • Starter - 18g
  2. Mix the dry ingredients:
    • All purpose flour - 154g
    • Bread flour - 240g
    • Salt - 8g
    • Sugar - 31g
    • Cinnamon - 3g
  3. Mix the wet ingredients in the mixing bowl:
    • Water - 94g
    • Milk - 80g
    • Pumpkin purée - 120g
    • Levain from the night before
  4. Add the dry mixture to the wet and mix until dough clumps around paddle and gluten is developed. (6-10 minutes)
  5. Let rest 10 minutes
  6. Mix in the 60g butter
  7. Mix in the raisins until incorporated
  8. Put dough in proofing container and let sit 20min
  9. Fold dough on itself once or twice
  10. Proof until double or more in size
  11. Grease the baking pan and sprinkle with semolina flour
  12. Punch down and divide the dough into three
  13. For each piece, roll into tall rectangle, fold into thirds lengthwise, then roll the narrow strip up into a bun. Line the rolled buns in the baking pan with the ends facing the sides
  14. Let rise until it doubles or triples in size
  15. Fill lid of romertof with water and dump out
  16. Put covered bread in cold oven and bake at 450F (230C) for 35 minutes

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Notes

  • This recipe was adapted from this
  • I use sourdough starter and I bake in a romertof dish which requires high heat and a longer cooking time. If you want to adapt this to use instant yeast or a different baking pan, you'll have to modify the proofing times and baking temperature (maybe 400F (200C) instead?) and you might need to cover the bread with some foil to keep the surface from getting too dark.
  • The last two times I made this I had to add more flour to get the dough to coalesce. The recipe has already been adjusted, but it may need a little more.