Pumpkin Sourdough
First off, many thanks to Karin (hanseata) for posting her bake of Dan Lepard’s pumpkin whey bread. [1] What a great idea, and not just for autumn bakes. This is a sourdough, whey-less take on that lovely bread.
I love what the pumpkin does for this bread! The colors are striking, the crumb is exceptionally moist, and the flavor is wonderfully complex. The amount of pumpkin added to the dough will affect the flavor of the finished loaf pretty dramatically. The flavor using this formula is subtle – there, but not up front – and fades over time. The flavor is much more pronounced with the addition of even 25g more pumpkin (reduce water by 15g to keep the hydration about the same).
I really do recommend an autolyse for this dough because it starts out very sticky. I tried mixing the first attempt straight off without an autolyse and it was a mess. I was convinced the dough was far too wet, but it eventually worked itself out and ended up being a little tight if anything. The loaves pictured here are the second attempt. They were handled much more gently and turned out much better for it.
Another idea I tried was to mix a bit of cinnamon and allspice with flour and use that to dust the bottom of the loaves. I kept it very light and the flavor didn’t come through in the finished bread, but it is something I will play with in future bakes.
And, there will certainly be future bakes of this one, because… YUM!
Marcus
Oh, and the type 85 flour could just as well be whole wheat, but it's what I have on hand at the moment.