Are you bready for Halloween?

Are you bready for Halloween?

As we all know, Halloween is just around the corner, and this can only mean one thing – pumpkin recipes! Despite their popular uses, pumpkins aren’t just scary ornaments or princess carriages, they’re real vegetables too! So join us in our mission to get Bangor baking, here’s some ideas for what to create from our favourite flamboyantly coloured vegetable…

Pumpkin bread

This is my favourite pumpkin discovered recipe so far, just remember to be patient when making bread, it kneads time to rise properly.

Ingredients

·         Small pumpkin (£1 – Morrisons)

·         450g strong white flour (99p – Aldi)

·         100ml warm water

·         1 egg

·         35 g sugar

·         25 g melted butter

·         2 tsp dried yeast  (£1.70 – Morrisons)

·         1 tsp salt

·         ¼ tsp nutmeg (49p– Aldi)

Optional

·         50g chopped walnuts

·         2-4 table spoons of honey

·

Firstly, you need to chop off the top of your pumpkin and scoop out the cobweb of seeds. Then using a sharp knife, carefully chop and peel a segment weighing 500g. Next, slice the peeled pumpkin segment into small chunks and boil until very soft, then when ready, mash the pumpkin into a purée and leave until cold.

1. To activate the yeast, measure the warm water into a measuring jug and stir in the sugar and yeast. Allow this to stand for 10 minutes until the sugar dissolves and the yeast turns the water frothy.
2. While this is standing, put the flour, salt and nutmeg into a large bowl and mix well.
3. Beat the egg in a separate bowl then add it to the flour along with the melted butter, the yeasty water and 200 g of the pumpkin purée. Mix well to a soft, slightly sticky dough, add more flour if your puree was particularly watery, but don’t be tempted to bury it in flour, the dough should be light and sticky.
4. Put the dough on a well-floured surface and knead for 10 minutes.
5. Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover and leave in a warm place for the dough to double in size (this takes 1-2 hours).
6. Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured surface and add the walnuts if using, then knead the dough again for 2-3 minutes.
7. Shape the dough into a thick sausage shape and place in a deep loaf tin, (you can get them in Poundland behind M&S if you don’t already have one.) place the tin in a large plastic bag, tie the end in a knot and allow the dough to rise for half an hour.
8. Once the dough has risen again, bake the loaf at 190°C/375°F fan oven, 220°C/430°F conventional oven for 30-35 minutes.
9. Remove from the loaf tin, lightly glaze with honey (optional) while it’s warm and allow to cool before eating.

With the left over pumpkin, you can make pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, whoopie pies or if you would like to try a savoury dish, a casserole is always an option. Alternatively find your own recipe and let us know how it turns out, keep baking Bangor!