The Lush Chef

Libations used: 1/4 tsp dark rum
Libations left over: None.  Lay off the sauce for a while, won't ya?
Every time I walk up to my door, the pumpkin I picked a couple of weekends ago sits there in silence and reminds me I need to make something with him.  Well, I want him to sit there and look pretty a little longer, but there's always store-bought purée.  This Pumpkin Spice Pull-Apart Bread from Willow Bird Baking has been tempting me for weeks, and a quiet Sunday afternoon finally afforded me the time to make it.

Making bread is a rather lengthy process because of all the rising and resting, blah, blah, blah.  But I love making it, and my co-workers love eating it even more.  The pull-apart nature of this bread makes it easy and fun to share, and who doesn't love sugar and spice coated bread with tons of rum glaze (arrr!)?  The top of this bread gets all crispy and caramelized, so definitely share this because you could very well eat the whole pan...in one sitting...



Pumpkin Spice Pull-Apart Bread with Butter Rum Glaze - serves 8-10

Bread Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 1/4 tsp (1 envelope) active dry yeast
• 3/4 cup pumpkin purée 
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 1/2 cups bread flour

Filling Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 2 Tbs unsalted butter

Butter Rum Glaze Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs unsalted butter
• 1/8 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tbs + 1 1/2 tsp milk
• 1/4 tsp rum

To make the bread:
- Grease and flour a medium loaf pan and set aside.
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, brown the butter.  Let it bubble and foam and when you see it start to brown, stir so it browns evenly.
- When it looks like some dark pirate rum, remove from heat and pour into a large mixing bowl to cool.
- In the same saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the milk until it bubbles.
- Remove from heat and pour into the large mixing bowl.
- Let the mixture cool to about 100-110.
- Stir in the sugar and yeast and let the mixture sit for a few minutes.
- Stir in the pumpkin, salt and 1 cup flour.
- If you're using a stand mixer with a dough hook, attach that or knead the dough by hand.  Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time, stirring between each addition.
- When the dough is combined, knead for about 4-5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Place the dough in a greased bowl and cover it with a damp cloth.  Let it rise in a warm place for an hour or until it doubles in size.  If you do this the night before, put in the fridge overnight and then let it sit out for 30 minutes before rolling it out.

To make the filling:
- While the dough is rising, mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a small bowl.
- When the dough is almost done rising, melt the 2 Tbs of butter in the small saucepan over medium-high heat and brown it like before.  Let it cool before you use it as indicated below.

To shape the bread:
- Knead about 1 Tbs of flour into the dough to deflate it.  Let it sit for about 5 minutes.
- Flour your work surface and turn the rested dough onto it.
- Roll it out to a 20x12 inch rectangle.  You may have to lift the corners and tug to shape.  If the dough is  snapping back, cover it with the damp towel and let it rise for about 5 minutes before continuing.  I definitely had to do this a couple of times.
- Spread the browned butter over the surface of the dough with a pastry brush.
- Sprinkle the sugar mixture onto the dough and pat it down so it mostly sticks.
- With the long edge of the rectangle facing you, cut it into 6 strips.
- Stack the strips on top of each other and then cut again into 6 portions.
- Place these little strips one at a time into your loaf pan.  The strips should have the short end on the top and bottom.  I also ran some of them through the extra sugar mixture so they're coated evenly.
- Cover the pan with the damp cloth and let it rise in a warm place for 30-45 minutes, or until it's about doubled in size.
- While the dough rises, preheat the oven to 350.
- When the dough has risen, place the loaf pan on top of a cookie sheet to catch those cinnamon/sugar drippings and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until it's a dark golden brown on top.
- Let the bread cool for 20-30 minutes before dousing it in glaze.

To make the glaze:
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the butter, milk and brown sugar to a boil.
- Remove from heat, add the powdered sugar and rum and whisk until smooth.
- Drizzle the glaze over top, or you can remove from the pan and drizzle warm glaze over individual portions.