Pane alla Zucca or Pumpkin Bread for Easter 2013

Officially, according to the calendar, spring is here, but it seems that winter has made a comeback with plans to stick around.  Easter is early this year and it seems that the real color, aside from a few primula and purple phlox,  comes from Easter decorations.  Store window dressings are colorfully extravagant, while colorfully wrapped Easter eggs festoon the grocery stores and market. I guess that will just have to do till spring blooming gets fully underway. 

 Colorful Italian chocolate Easter eggs on display at the Pinerolo market

This year in addition to that bread and other I am going to make Pumpkin bread or Pane alla zucca. It is  not a sweet quick bread like most of us from the US think of, but a yeasted bread that replaces the water in the recipe with pumpkin puree.  It's a colorful and flavorful bread that will help me use up the last pumpkin of last season that is need off being used before nature has it's way with it.  When I saw this being made on our local cooking show they hollowed out the center and filled it with some cooked broccoli and pancetta. If made into small loaves, it could be a soup or dip holder, but that is not what I am going to do. I'm looking forward to thick slabs of colorful bread. This year I decided to make and bake a full load of various breads the night before Easter in our wood fired oven. Not only will we have plenty of bread for the Easter feast, I 'll have some loaves to send home with our cousins.  I'll make some normal daily sourdough bread and add in some specialty breads for Easter. I am going to do a Casatiello Napoletano, because not only is it delicious it looks great with the whole eggs in their shell baked on top. You can find my recipe to it here.

My home made Casatiello Napoletano

This bread is best made with dense fleshed pumpkins or squash.  I made this loaf in the photo with butternut squash. So not really a pumpkin bread the winter squash varieties are so mixed up and interchangeable, suffice it say that a dense orange fleshed squash or pumpkin is what you are looking for. I will be using what is called here a Mantua squash, but as best as I can place it, it is some variety of kabocha squash, probably of the delica variety.  It is a smaller but dense squash that keeps well all winter, but now, it's time to use it and I think it will be a welcome addition to the bread basket.  

Pane alla Zuccca

It's pretty easy to make if you know what you are looking for in the way of rising. If you use the commercial yeast, it should be a one day bread if you start in the morning. If using sour dough it may take longer. I don't mind the longer rises, as I think it develops the flavor of the bread, so take you pick, but do try making this bread. It has a delicate flavor and beautiful color that is sure to please. 

Butternut squash chunks being steamed

Pane alla Zucca 

 My adapted recipe of Gabriele Bonci recipe

Ingredients:  

• 10c /2.2 # / 1 kg flour I used a high gluten flour that is called manitoba here in Italy
• 3/4c / 7 oz / 200g sour dough or livieto madre -- I refreshed mine the night before so that it was quite active  
• or for secure results use some commercial yeast
• 7 g yeast, dry instant
• 3 3/4c / 1 1/2 # / 700g pumpkin/ winter squash pulp, cleaned*
• 2 tsp Salt (q.b.)
• Poppy seeds, optional for topping

Method:

• If you are using a dense squash and are going to steam it, then peel and deseed your pumpkin or squash. Weigh it to make sure you still have enough . Cut the squash into chunks and steam it till soft.  Run the pulp through a food mill, ricer, or food processor.
• If you are baking your squash, weigh your pumpkin to know what amount you have and cut the squash into slabs with the peel still on. Bake in the oven till soft. Scrape flesh off the peel and run the pulp through a food mill, ricer, or food processor.
• Add the salt to the pumpkin either when cooking or when turning it in to a puree.
• Measure or weigh out your flour into a large bowl.
• Add the cooked prepared pumpkin pulp to the flour.
• Add the dry yeast or sour dough
• Mix together first with a spoon or spatula till a rough dough forms. You can continue to mix it in the bowl with your hands in till smooth adjusting the flour or liquid if needed. I like to finish mixing and kneading on the generously floured table. Mix and gingerly knead till the dough is smooth and pliable.
• Lightly oil your bowl add the dough turning to oil the entire dough, cover with plastic wrap ,and set in a warm place to rise for about 5-6 hours.
• Once the dough has risen well and is full of air and feels well risen, turn out of the bowl onto the table. Cut into two pieces. Lightly form the bread into to loaf rounds, tucking your ends underneath, being careful not to deflate the bread too much.
• Dip the smooth top of each loaf into a bowl of water and then lightly press the wet dough into a bowl of poppy seeds.
• Place the seeded side up on a baking tray. I usually use a silicon pad or baking paper to keep the bread from sticking to the tray. Let the loaves rise a little longer if you think they need it. Otherwise, with a pair of kitchen scissor, cut four gashes in the top in a circle to form a top knot. And if you like make 4 cuts with the scissors around the outside and through the sides top to bottom to make large petals.
• Bake in a very hot oven. I usually start my oven at the highest temperature. Once it comes up to temperature. I spray the oven with water to form some steam and then quickly put the loaves in. I turn the heat down to 375*F (190*C) and bake the loaves for about 30-40 minutes. I have a convection oven and it does;t always take that long. Sometimes it is only 25 minutes. When the bread looks a golden brown and has a hollow sound when thumped, the bread should be done.
• Let cool a while before slicing so the texture is not crushed. Breath deep and enjoy the bready wonderfulness before devouring.

* Cooks Notes

• This recipe is originally in metric measures, so when adapting to cups it sometimes takes a little adjusting to get the right amount for your ingredients.

• If I am using dense fleshed winter squash or pumpkins I will cut up it up into chunks and  steam them till soft and then puree them by using a ricer or food mill. 

• If I have some of the larger varieties of pumpkins or squash that are sometimes stringy and very watery, I might consider baking them in the oven to reduce the liquid and intensify the flavor. Either way if you find your dough too stiff you can always add a bit of water or if the dough is too wet, then add a tad more flour. Bread is like that, so don't be afraid. Knead on.

Pumpkin or Squash Bread

Anise and Dried Fig Bread..... and a small tribute to my mother

Spring Orchids and Lily of the Valley from our garden

Today people are celebrating their mothers by many varieties of tributes, thoughtful gifts and gestures. My mother has been gone a long time now, but never far away in my thoughts and always carried closely in my heart. She was a great lady, poised and graceful. One of her most enduring qualities, that many people remember her for, was as a wonderful home maker, cook and hostess. No, she never worked outside of our home, but she never stopped working to keep all four of us, her children and my father too, clothed, fed and educated in so many ways other than just what one learns in school. As a partner to my father, she was tireless with her support of his work as a minister, ever the wife looking after many details and leading the way with so many church projects and endlessly opening our home to many people along the way that found a nights rest or an outstanding meal and a kind word of support when it was needed. She was usually over shadowed by my father, whose personality and profession kept him in the spotlight, but naturally she could hold her own and did regularly. I'm fairly confident my love of cooking and cuisine is directly related to my mothers determination to have the best fried chicken and apple pie on the over burdened potluck tables at the church dinners of my youth. And it probably didn't hurt that my father was her best sampler and always sang her praises when it came to her cooking. His waistline was proof of that. But I think back to when she started to make bread on a regular basis and I think it really struck a chord for me, as she began with refrigerator rolls, like angel biscuits, that her mother gave me the recipe for and I still like to make on occasion, and whole wheat loaves. It really caught my interest because, well, because, it just plain tasted good. Store bought bread growing up was no treat and I had always felt indifferent to bread unless it was home made. When she got going on the whole wheat bread I was hooked. I soon was out of the house and on my own and started to make bread too, as I found that it really satisfied some basic yearning within me. I love the feel of the different textures of flours and the smell of the levito madre, or sour dough as we call it in the states, and the feel of the liveliness of the dough when it comes together. I always have a catch in my breath when the dough just has a feel of life to it. I don't know how else to explain it. Then there is the satisfaction when it comes out of the oven all brown, aromatic, and crackling as it cools and the crust starts to soften a little. The pride of a well made loaf is second only to eating it fresh or even better when given away to an appreciative receiver.

Mom and me with her 70th birthday cake I made her

This mothers day I made a couple of Fig and Anise loaves to great approval. We almost devoured one loaf this morning with a thick slathering of my apricot and rosemary jam on it. I was fearful that the other loaf wasn't going to make it to my mother in law, but it did. I think my in laws enjoyed it almost as much as we did. It's always a delight to see their eyes light up when I come over with a fresh loaf of bread. They are appreciative bread eaters and that makes a bakers heart dance. All these years later, it's still an endless journey and even though I have made thousands of loaves of bread over the years, there are still so many flavors and combinations  yet to discover. I have a few bread books that although I seem to use them frequently I never seem to exhaust all the possibilities. I find that I will use one book relentlessly for awhile, sometimes repeating the recipe several times in a row to try and get it to my satisfaction and then will move on to one of my other bread bibles and keep jumping around and some times just keep making my simple "daily bread" version endlessly.  This bread is Nancy Silverton's recipe and is really just about perfect. I might increase the anise slightly next time and if I had read the directions a little more closely I wouldn't have pureed all of the figs and would have left a few for a bit of flavor spikes here and there, but it is a delicious bread that would go great with prosciutto crudo and goat cheese as well as for breakfast with jam. Anyway you slice it, I think you will like it and do your mom proud. Thanks Mom for teaching me to be fearless in the kitchen and many other valuable lessons that have come in handy over the years. I wish I could share a slice with you right now, but will enjoy sharing it with some of the people that I love.

Anise Fig bread,
with an olive loaf on the right side

This is Nancy Silverton's recipe. I highly recommend buying the book for complete instructions and a full understanding of baking with a natural starter. I will give you the basic instructions and it helps if you are familiar baking with a sour dough starter. 

Anise Fig Bread

2 smallish loaves approximately 1 pound or 500g

10 oz (1 1/2c ) dried figs

4 T hot water

4 oz (1/2c cool water 70*F

2 tsp instant dry yeast (.6oz /or 1 cake fresh yeast)

9 oz (1c) white sour dough starter (mine does not have a sour taste to it)

12 oz (3 c) white bread four

3 3/4 (6T) sugar, I used brown Demerara

1 1/2 tsp  sea salt

1/2 tsp anise seed, I think I would go 1 tsp next time

2 T polenta or corn meal

oil, I used olive

Cut up the dried figs into small pieces, placing about  1/3- 1/2 of the figs in a small food processor with the hot water and blend till smooth. ( I actually didn't really read this correctly and blended all of the figs and the bread turned out fine)

You can mix the bread up in a stan mixer, but I did it by hand with good results.

Place the flour, yeast, sugar in a bowl and lightly mix together. Then add the cool water, white starter and mix till smooth and pliable.

Add the salt, and mix till fully incorporated and smooth again.

Add the pureed figs, the fig pieces, anise seeds, and polenta. MIxing until it is smooth and very pliable. 

Lightly oil the dough, place in a covered plastic container and let rise for a couple of hours before putting it into the refrigerator overnight.

The next day remove fromt he refrigerator and divide into 2 equal pieces. Lightly pull the sides down and into the middle of the dough. Lay the dough rough side up on a lightly floured surface and shape the dough into either a round boule or a slightly oblong loaf. I have a variety of baskets that I used lined with   canvas/ light cotton muslin that I line the baskets with, then sprinkle it generously with flour and place the bread in the baskets to let them rise. I turn them completely around on all edges to lightly cover them with flour so they don't stick to the material while rising. The top of the loaf is down in the bottom of the basket, the rough bottom is facing toward you and then I fold the extra material loosely over the dough and place both of the loaves in a roomy plastic bag and leave them in a warm room to rise.  It can take 3-4 ours to rise till there is a light feel to the dough when you poke it with a finger to see if it has risen. 

Preheat your oven to as high as it will go and just before putting your loaves in pour some water in the bottom to create steam. Close the door and let the temperature rise again. Bring the dial down to 200*C or 450* F. 

Flip your dough out onto a sheet pan. I usually use a silicon pad or baking paper to insure it doesn't stick to the pan.  Slash the tops of your with a razor if you have it or a very sharp knife with an x for rounds and long slashes for oblong loaves or any way that you like and put in the oven. Take another bit of water and throw it int the bottom to create some steam and then leave it shut for at least 20 minutes before checking it again to insure a good rise.  Check on it rotating the loaves if necessary for an even browning and cook for at least 35 minutes. This loaf gets quite dark but that is a good thing. I used regular light colored dried figs and it was quite dark due to the sugar and natural sugar of the figs. If you use black figs, it will get even darker, so don't be afraid that you are burning it. It will taste great really.

Anise Fig Bread

Five Grain Bread with Walnuts, A Bread Baking Buddy Event

I am a passionate baker and bread is one of my all time favorites. I make all of our bread for us and our guests. I on occasion will buy bread in town to try someone else's for a change of pace, but find that for the most part, good bread is a dying art, even here in Italy. There are loads of bakeries and just too many white loaves and many different shapes, but most of them all taste the same. Seldom do they jump out at me and catch my imagination. Integrale or whole wheat loaves are generally the same. If you find a good dark bread here, it is usually a good one and often it will have walnuts as well. Dark walnut bread is a favorite in these parts, traditional and not so easy to find. When I saw this loaf popping up around on a few blogs last week ad heard it was the Baking Bread Babes 1 year anniversary, hosted by the energetic and ever so friendly and encouraging creator, Tanna of My Kitchen in Half Cups, I knew I was in. I have been making similar loaves to appreciative eaters, so I knew this one would be a winner as well and it was.
I am unable to completely follow a recipe for either lack of concentration or because I don't have the exact ingredients on hand and often only go into town once a week or so, and if it gets forgotten then so be it, tweaked recipe. Actually, I did pretty well on this one, having all the ingredients on hand, but I just had to tinker with the method a bit to suit my baking frame of mind these days. I'm a fan of slow rise, natural leavening, full flavor bread as I am a firm believer in that the longer it rises slowly, the sugars break down and release their full flavor goodness. Feel free to follow the recipe as is, because I know you will get good results as the many different bakers did. Check out the list of other Baking Babes and their results on Tanna's blog.
I love this bread as it it is very flavorful and has a nice crispy and yet chewy crust. Great toasted for breakfast as well as with fresh ricotta and olive pate just to name one variation.
I will add my modifications and method at the end of the recipe.

Five~Grain Bread with Walnuts
Adapted from Carol Field's An Italian Baker

Pane ai Cinque Cereali con Noci

Makes 2 9 X 5-inch loaves
1 1/4cups (300 grams) walnut pieces
3 3/4 teaspoons active dry yeast or 1 1/2 small cakes (27 grams) fresh
yeast
¼ cup warm water
3 cups water, room temperature
3 3/4 cups (500 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 ¼ cups (125 grams) oat flour or finely ground rolled oats
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (125 grams) rye flour
1 cup less 1 tablespoon (125 grams) whole-wheat flour
¾ cup (125 grams) brown rice flour
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon (20 grams) salt

Toast the walnuts for 10 minutes in a 400 F oven; then chop in a food processor fitted with the steel blade or with a sharp knife to the size of a fat rice kernel. Do not grind them finely.

BY HAND

Stir the yeast into the warm water in a large mixing bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in 3 cups water. Mix the walnuts, flours, and salt and stir 2 cups at a time into the dissolved yeast, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. The dough should come together easily. Knead on a floured surface, sprinkling with additional all-purpose flour as needed, until firm, elastic, and no longer sticky, 8 to 10 minutes.

BY MIXER

Stir the yeast into the warm water in a mixer bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in 3 cups water. Stir in the flours, walnuts, and salt with the paddle. Mix until the dough comes together. Change to the dough hook and knead for 3 to 4 minutes at medium speed until firm and elastic but still slightly sticky. Finish kneading briefly by hand on a surface floured with all-purpose flour.

BY PROCESSOR

Make sure your food processor can handle the volume of this dough. Even when done in 2 batches, there will be 4 cups flour to be processed. Stir the yeast into the warm water in a small bowl; let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Place the flours and salt in a food processor fitted with the dough blade and process with several pulses to sift. With the machine running, pour the dissolved yeast and 3 cups cold water through the feed tube as quickly as the flours can absorb it; process until the dough gathers into a ball. Process 40 seconds longer to knead. Knead in the walnuts by hand on a surface floured with all-purpose flour.


First Rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

Shaping and Second Rise. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. The dough should be moist, firm, and noticeably elastic, if slightly sticky. Cut the dough in half and shape each half into an oval loaf to fit a loaf pan. Place the loaves in the oiled pans (preferably glass), cover with a heavy towel, and let rise until truly doubled and fully above the tops of the pans, 1 to 1 ¼ hours.

Baking. Heat oven to 400° F. Slash a pattern in the top of the loaves. One baker in Milan cuts the shape of a stalk of grain on the top; elsewhere bakers make 3 parallel slashes. Bake 40 to 45 minutes; bake the last 5 to 10 minutes out of the pans on a baking stone or baking sheet to brown the bottoms and sides. Cool completely on a rack.

Marla's variations
I made mine all by hand. I prefer weights to cups, but have used cups here.

* Pan toasted the walnuts in the stove in a cast iron skillet, just kept shaking them to turn so they lightly toasted.
* 1/4 tsp instant yeast added to the dry ingredients
* 1 cup ground oat flour and 1/4 cup 6 grain rolled flakes
* Salt about a tablespoon.
* 1 1/2 cup natural leavened starter , sometime called sourdough, I call it biga, here they call the "mama"
* 2 cups or so water, approximately, as I was compensating for the runny starter

I put my dry ingredients together and added the biga and water and mixed with a spoon till I took over with my hands adding more water or flour if needed. I think I went a bit heavy on the water and would back off bit next time. I wanted to make sure the grains could absorb properly.

First rise took a couple of hours as my starter wasn't as lively as usual.

Then I divided the dough in two and gently shaped it into two round loaves. I would have been careful not to deflate it if it hadn't been so wet. them I used two baskets lined with floured cotton tea towels that I keep and use regularly for this purpose, as I can't find heavy canvas nor do I have bannetons. I made sure the loaves were well floured and the tops(which are your bottom of the loaves) covered by the tea towels. I placed both in a large plastic bag and left them in our quite cold room next door to rise over night.

Brought them in next morning and when they had warmed up I baked them in a preheated hot oven on sheet trays that they were turned out on to and deeply slashed. Popped in to a very hot oven that I sprayed with water and baked till hollow sounding.