Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Tuesdays with Julia - Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves


Today´s recipe for the Tuesdays with Julia group is Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves. It is quite enjoyable to be baking loaves with yeast, making the dough, waiting for them to rise and then baking them in the oven and watching them turn out to be wonderful loaves of bread that the whole family enjoys.




The first task was to get a pumpkin since the recipe requires puréed pumpkin. So on Sunday, we took the kids to a “pumpkin farm”. They grow countless varieties of pumpkins and winter squashes there, still somewhat unusual for Europe. You could choose between butternut or spaghetti squash, Musque de Provence, acorn squash, butternut, Hokkaido and many other kinds. I chose a medium sized Hokkaido squash and when we were home, I immediately baked it  in the oven and ended up with about one and a half cups bright orange pumpkin puree.




Steve Sullivan is the contributing baker for this recipe and it is a recipe that is easy to follow. The ingredients are but a few, namely bread flour, freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg as the spices, a bit of sea salt, active dry yeast (although I must admit that I usually prefer to bake yeast breads with fresh yeast cakes), good quality unsalted butter, homemade pumpkin purée, an egg, plus walnuts (which I left out in my second loaf but had them in my first one) and golden raisins and fresh cranberries.




Turns out that the most difficult part of this recipe was trying to find fresh cranberries and since I could not find them anywhere, I substituted dried cranberries in my first loaf and dried cherries in my second loaf – both turned out to be delicious (albeit not quite as colorful) additions to the Walnut Pumpkin Loaves.




After the second rise and just before baking my second loaf, I placed a small clay plate in the middle of the bread. A few years ago, we used to buy bread at a small bakery not far from where we live and the bakery was in a small town amidst numerous resident pottery makers, so the owner of the bakery had the idea of having one of the artists create these little clay plates to place on his bread before baking. Unfortunately, that small bakery does not exist anymore but I have faithfully kept the clay plates and every so often, I put one on top of my unbaked breads – this process always makes them sink a bit in the middle, but I do not mind, I love the look it lends to my baked goods.




We liked this bread and I certainly enjoyed baking these Walnut Pumpkin Loaves. We all adored the wonderful smell emanating from the oven while the two loaves were baking.

Wonderful bread – great color, perfect for the season and easy to make.

The bread can be enjoyed fresh or toasted with just some good quality butter and whatever else strikes your fancy.




The hostess for today´s recipe is Rebecca of This Bountiful Backyard. “Thank You”, Rebecca !

To see how the other Doristas baked wonderful Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaves today, please click here.






22 comments:

  1. This was a fun bread to make--I love your photos especially the one of the pumpkin farm!
    This bread combined all the wonderful flavors of fall.

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  2. Andrea, finally school holiday has started (autumn holiday - 2 weeks ♥) and tomorrow we are taking the kids to a pumpkin farm, about 45 min. from our house
    http://www.juckerfarmart.ch/kuerbisausstellung/seegraeben/

    The little "juwel" you've put in your bread is totally cute! I love it!
    Your loaves turned out beautifully. I'm enjoying the bread at breakfast, with butter (I've sliced and frozen them all).

    Liebe Grüsse und viel Spass beim "Tag der Deutschen Einheit", morgen.

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  3. Beautiful loaves, Andrea...and I love your bread plate :)

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  4. Looks great! And I love the moose at the pumpkin farm. Very cute.

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  5. Love the picture of the pumpkin moose! Or would that be "mousse"? And what a wonderful little clay button for the top of the loaf. Going to have to show this to my potter friend.

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  6. Andrea, your photos are just as lovely as ever. They, along with your writing, are so warm and inviting. Your loaves look fabulous and I just want that slice that is slathered in butter! I love the clay plate on your bread. How very unique!

    It is so good to be back. I am not sure about this week's FFwD as we are not very fond of garbonzo beans...I'll have to see. ;)

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  7. Another beautiful presentation. Love your tablecloth. Love the idea of using the clay plates in your baked breads, keeping the history alive.

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  8. Fresh pumpkin... yum! Love the story about your bread plates.

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  9. wow.. look at that pumpkin market...it celebrates the pumpkin like nothing I've ever seen!! Firstly.. love the look of your bread.. its got such a beautiful colour!!! Thats how I imagine a pumpkin bread to look!! and secondly, I love the idea of that little clay plate..its gives the bread such character!!! Absolutely lovely!!

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  10. Oh Andrea…you have achieved perfection! Not only in your beautiful bread but, also in your photos! Such a wonderful pumpkin farm…do you celebrate Halloween in Germany? I had some cooked pumpkin in my freezer from last year, it saved me the step of cooking it down.

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  11. I love how you cooked your own pumpkin puree. The loaves look beautiful!

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  12. 1) I love the pumpkin moose. It makes me smile.
    2) The clay disks are charming.
    3) Beautiful loaves :-)

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  13. Love the photo from the farm. Will be leaving for Germany soon and hope to find wonderful places like that during our travels. I can't wait to try your recipes for the pumpkin loaves and pear cake recipe when I return. By then, I think you will have posted more recipes to inspire future cooking.

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  14. oh this looks so incredibly perfect for fall - and making your own puree! fantastic, love the color and yes, I can imagine how great it smelled cooking!
    mary x

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  15. I love your post! You have inspired me to head out to a pumpkin farm and take some photos! Blessings my baking friend. Catherine wwww.praycookblog.com

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  16. Is Hokkaido squash Kabocha? The green outside and it's pretty hard to cut? I love Kabocha, so I wonder if you used those kinds for this recipe. Looks so good. I had never had pumpkin loaves before. Have to be homemade to be that creative (no such thing in stores). I have to eventually work with yeast - and overcome fear!

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  17. Andrea, you baked a beautiful bread! Mine didn´t rise and I didn´t have the heart to start all over again. Love the idea of the clay plate. Wonderful pictures!

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  18. Oh heavens!! those look utterly delicious!!!

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  19. Your breads look wonderful, Andrea. I had some cranberries in my freezer from last year, though I wasn't wild about them. I was thinking dried cranberries or cherries would be much nicer, so I think you made great choices!

    That pumpkin moose (or is it an elk) is just the cutest thing! I love it, and all the squash choices you have available. I have never seen yeast cakes here in the US. They sound cool though.

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  20. I love the pumpkin moose! Your bread and photos are beautiful!!!

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  21. I love that you used fresh pumpkin instead of canned! What a cute idea to add the clay plate to give your bread character.

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  22. i am so jealous of your trip to the pumpkin farm. i actually love squash (my husband thinks i'm strange) and think it's so much fun to try out the different varieties....your bread came out beautifully. i really like the look of the clay plate.

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