Kabocha Squash Bread

Author: Anita Jacobson

Courses: Bread

Cuisines: Japanese

Ingredients: Vegetables

Prep Time: 3 hours

Cook Time: 35 mins

Total Time: 3 hours 35 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 120 gram warm milk (38 Celsius or 100 Fahrenheit)
• 4 gram active dry yeast
• 5 gram brown sugar
• 150 gram kabocha squash meat, cut into wedges
• 300 gram bread flour (or all purpose flour)
• 30 gram brown sugar
• 4 gram salt
• 1 egg, room temperature
• 35 gram unsalted butter, room temperature
• enough butter and flour to grease and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan

Instructions

1. Mix together warm milk, active dry yeast, and 5 gram of brown sugar. Set aside until foamy, about 10 minutes.
2. Place kabocha wedges in a microwave safe bowl, and cook for about 3 minutes, or until fork tender. Mash the cooked kabocha and set aside. (*)
3. Whisk together bread flour, brown sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
4. Once the yeast solution is foamy, make a well in the flour mixture, add mashed kabocha, yeast solution, and egg. Knead until smooth and non-sticky, about 10-15 minutes by hand.
5. Add butter to the dough, and knead again until smooth and non-oily, another 10-15 minutes.
6. The dough is ready once it reaches window pane stage. This means, you can stretch the dough until thin enough to let light pass through the stretched portion without the dough tearing.
7. Gather the dough into a ball, place in a mixing bowl, cover with a wet kitchen towel/saran wrap, and let it rise until volume is double. About 45 minutes in a warm kitchen.
8. Meanwhile, grease and flour a 9"x5" loaf pan.
9. Punch the risen dough to release air bubbles and knead for 5 minutes. Divide the dough into 3 portions.
10. In a floured work surface, roll a portion of the dough into an oblong (rectangular) shape. Fold the two long sides to meet at the center, slightly overlapping is okay. Then roll the dough into a log and place in the prepared loaf pan. Repeat for the other 2 portions.
11. Cover the loaf pan with a wet kitchen towel/saran wrap, and let the dough rise for a second time until volume is doubled, about 45 minutes in a warm kitchen.
12. Preheat oven to 200 Celsius (400 Fahrenheit). Sprinkle the dough with some bread flour (or all purpose flour), and lightly score the top part through the center of the dough.
13. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Then make a tent from a piece of aluminum foil and place it on top of the loaf pan. Bake again for another 15 minutes with tent, or until cooked through and golden brown.
14. Remove bread from oven, discard the aluminum foil, and gently remove the bread from the pan to cool completely on a wire rack.

Notes

• (*) Cooking time may differ for your microwave.