TWD BWJ Rewind: Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaf

December 30, 2014 at 12:42 am | Posted in breakfast things, BWJ, groups, sweet things, sweet yeast breads, tuesdays with dorie | 5 Comments
Tags: baking, bread

Happy New Year! This time last year, I resolved to do a better job of using up odds and ends in the kitchen. I’ve done a pretty good job with that in 2014, and, in fact, this Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaf from Steve Sullivan used up some leftover pumpkin puree and cranberries I had hiding in the freezer. Of course, now I have half a loaf of bread in freezer instead, so maybe it’s actually a wash for the time being.

The group made this bread back in the fall of 2012, and two years later I don’t remember why I skipped out on it at the time. When I hear “pumpkin bread,” I usually think of a quick bread, but this is actually a yeasted loaf. It’s a bit like a lean brioche with a bit of pumpkin puree (I used canned) mixed in, along with fresh cranberries, walnuts and raisins. I imagine you could play around with those add-ins a bit.

I changed two things when I made this bread. First, the recipe calls for an overnight rest in the refrigerator, followed by a lengthy stay on the counter the next day to come back up to room temp. I, of course, did not properly familiarize myself with the recipe before I jumped in, so I was totally unprepared for that. Instead of the fridge rest, I gave it a second countertop rise (a little over an hour) in the bowl before shaping it and giving it it’s final proof. Second, the recipe divides the dough into three mini loaf pans. I don’t have those pans, so I cut the recipe in half and made a medium-sized loaf (8″x4″) instead. I got a nice, tall loaf so thankfully my changes didn’t do anything bad to the dough.

I like this bread! It doesn’t taste much of pumpkin, but the puree gives it a pretty golden-orange color. And the pops of cranberries, raisins and walnuts are nice. It makes good cinnamon toast, like we had it here, for breakfast.

For the recipe, see Baking with Julia by Dorie Greenspan. Don’t forget to check out the rest of the TWD Blogroll to see if anyone else did a rewind this week, and see the links page from the Cranberry-Walnut Pumpkin Loaf week a couple of years ago!

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That bread looks beautiful! Happy New Year!

Comment by Teresa— December 31, 2014 #

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This is a delicious rewind dish – and a bonus that it uses up leftovers.

Comment by Cakelaw— January 3, 2015 #

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I love it when it all works out well even with changes! I can’t wait to try this recipe.
cheers!

Comment by Rachelle Weymuller@caramelizelife.com— January 4, 2015 #

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This cracked me up. I’m always doing the same thing. I’ll buy several new ingredients so that I can use up one ingredient, and then usually end up freezing half of what I make anyway. Oh well! It’s always fun to make something new.

Comment by jora— January 5, 2015 #

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Oooh, looks delish! I”ll have to check out that recipe! And I do exactly the same thing — substitutions all the way, baby!

Comment by Margaret— January 5, 2015 #

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