Pumpkin and orange cinnamon swirl bread
This pumpkin and orange sweet bread is soft, fluffy and filled with a lovely cinnamon swirl. It’s surprisingly easy to make: just roll out the risen dough, sprinkle it with cinnamon sugar, roll it up and pop it into a loaf tin for a second rise. All it needs is a little warmth – something we can only hope for this autumn ;). It’s delicious with a mug of warm milk and a generous spread of homemade plum butter. And that beautiful golden-orange colour? Just gorgeous!
Which pumpkin do I use for baking? In Poland, Hokkaido pumpkin is a good choice. In the UK, it’s known as Red Kuri squash. It has a delicate flavour, dense, floury flesh and a beautiful deep orange colour, making it very versatile in the kitchen.
Note: The amount of flour needed may vary depending on how thick your pumpkin purée is. Mine was very thick, as I used Hokkaido pumpkin. If your purée is quite runny, cook it down to remove some of the moisture or add a little extra flour.
Ingredients for the yeast dough:
- 350 g strong white bread flour
- 10 g dried yeast or 20 g fresh yeast
- 150 ml milk
- 180 g pumpkin purée (approximately ¾ cup)
- finely grated zest of ½ orange
- 60 g caster sugar
- ½ tsp salt
- 30 g butter
Additionally:
- 1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp milk, for brushing
Mix the flour with the dried yeast. If using fresh yeast, prepare a yeast starter first. Add the remaining ingredients and knead the dough, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead for long enough to make the dough soft and elastic. Place the dough in a lightly floured bowl, cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, which should take about 1½ hours.
Once risen, roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle roughly the length of your loaf tin, so the rolled-up dough will fit comfortably inside. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar evenly over the dough, then roll it up tightly along the longer side to form a log. Place the dough in a 23–25 x 11 cm loaf tin, greased with butter and dusted with flour. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place for about 30 minutes, or until doubled in size. Just before baking, brush the top with the beaten egg and milk mixture.
Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for approximately 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
Ingredients for the cinnamon filling:
- ⅓ cup soft brown sugar
- 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together and set aside.
Method for bread machine users:
Place all the yeast dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead it lightly, and continue according to the main recipe above.
Enjoy!
