pumpkin sourdough

a decorative sourdough for all your fall feels. tastes like pumpkin soup in bread form, looks like a pumpkin.

levain build

dough formula

special equipment

7 am: feed levain

12 pm: autolyse

in a large bowl, mix all flours, turmeric powder, and ginger powder together.
in another bowl, mix the pumpkin puree with the water. stir well so pumpkin puree is evenly distributed in the liquid mixture. note: you want the resulting temperature of the liquid to be about 93°F. i gradually added water to my pumpkin puree until i reached that temperature.
slowly add the liquid mixture into the flour mixture, mixing with a rubber spatula. make sure to incorporate the liquid into the flour well, stopping when all the flour is hydrated.
let sit, covered, for 60 minutes.

1 pm: bulk fermentation

sprinkle salt evenly over autolysed dough. incorporate gently by folding dough over a 2-3 times. then, measure out ripe starter, and add to bowl.
mix, alternating between using the rubaud and pincer method, for about 6-7 minutes.
let dough rise at room temp until it is about 1.5x in size and appears gaseous, about 8 hours in the fall.
this dough needs 4-5 sets of coil folds, spaced 45 min apart, starting at the beginning.
sample schedule:
- 1:45 pm fold #1
- 2:30 pm fold #2
- 3:15 fold #3
- 4 pm fold #4

9 pm: shape

i like to shape these as a round boule.
on a generously floured surface, gently guide dough onto the table.
first tug and fold the dough lightly on itself in each direction: top, left, right, bottom, like you're folding up paper.
then, repeat to create a more tightly formed

9:05 pm: proof

generously flour an lined round bannetone. flip the dough over with a bench knife, and gently transfer the dough, seasm side up, into the bannetone.
if the seam has come undone, stitch it back together.
lightly flour the top of the dough.
place bannetone inside of a plastic bag to cover, and place in fridge overnight for 12 - 14 hours.

[next morning] 10 am: preheat

10:50 am: shaping part ii

dough is proofed when it passes the finger dent test. remove bannetone from fridge.
cut 4 pieces of baker's twine, each 24" in length. dip or cover each piece in vegetable oil. remove excess oil with fingers.
while the dough is still in the bannetone, lay each piece of twine on top across the center, so that the strings create an asterick shape.
flip the dough out onto a precut piece of parchment paper
gather the pieces of twine on dough top, and then loosely tie together. i left just under an inch of room for my dough to expand while baking.
for an extra flourish, score each section with a leaf pattern using a lame.
watch the video above for full demonstration.

11 am: bake

transfer scored dough to dutch oven.
decrease temperature to 475°F. with the lid on, bake for 30 minutes. then, take the lid off. bake for another 12 - 15 minutes, or whenever the crust turns the color you like it (i go for a medium brown).
let this loaf full cool on a wire rack (or something else that allows the air to circulate).
after crust is no longer hot to the touch (after 30 min), remove the strings by cutting them.

2 pm: slice & enjoy

optional: place your dried butternut squash stem flat on top of the loaf before serving.
let loaf cool for at least 3 hours before slicing.