Pumpkin Pie Brioche

Looking in my fridge this morning - wondering what to do with all of this wonderful fresh pureed pumpkin. Also the need for making bread, led me to this recipe on the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes site. Oh I can't wait to try this! I don't have a brioche pan so I decided to use a loaf pan.

Here is the recipe:

Pumpkin Pie Brioche:
3 cups white whole wheat
4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons granulated yeast
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water
4 large eggs
1/2 cup honey
3/4 cup neutral flavored oil or unsalted butter, melted
1 3/4 cups pumpkin puree (freshly roasted or canned)
Egg wash for brushing on top
Raw sugar for sprinkling on top

These directions are abridged from the book, for more detailed instructions go to page 284 in Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day.

Mixing and storing the dough: whisk together all of the dry ingredients in a 5-quart Food Storage Container, fitted with a non-airtight lid. Combine the liquid ingredients and add them to the dry with a wooden spoon. Mix thoroughly, until there are no more dry bits of flour. The dough will be quite loose when you are done.

Cover the container and allow the dough to rest on the counter for 2 hours. Once it has risen refrigerate for at least 2 hours before baking or it is too difficult to handle. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

On baking day: Grease a Non-Stick Brioche Mold. Dust the surface of the refrigerated dough with flour and cut off a 2-pound (cantaloupe size) piece of dough. Dust with more flour and quickly shape into a ball.

Place the ball of dough into the prepared pan with the smooth side up.  Allow the dough to rest, loosely covered with plastic wrap for 1 hour 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 with the oven rack in the middle of the oven.

As you can see it didn’t rise that much during the rest. That is normal for our dough. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash using a pastry brush and sprinkle it with the raw sugar.

Bake for about 50 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Allow to cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then turn it out and form a thick ring with a clean kitchen towel and invert the brioche onto the towel so that the dome of the brioche is supported by the towel. This will prevent the top or bottom of the loaf from getting crushed as it cools. Let the dough come to room temperature before cutting and serving.

Enjoy!