Cinnamon Pumpkin Pull Apart Bread

I'd like to think I'm a risk taker. But in reality, I'm probably not at all. I think using pumpkin puree in a sweet bread sounds risky, almost too risky for me. Here in Australia, pumpkin isn't used as a sweet--but I know that Americans are quite used to the idea of serving pumpkin pie as a dessert.
Pumpkin certainly does have that sweet element, but to me it's still a veggie and it would never cross my mind to use it in anything but a savory dish.
So I stepped right out of my comfort zone with this month's Secret Recipe Club reveal and made Cinnamon Pumpkin pull-apart bread with a delicious caramely glaze. It was amazing and I was ever so pleasantly surprised by how beautifully all the flavours came together and the lovely soft texture of the bread itself. It consists of soft folds of sweet bread paired together with cinnamon sugar, sweetened by the deliciously sticky glaze. (I think I made my glaze a little thick, and would probably thin it next time. I also mucked up the cutting and stacking of the dough process so mine doesn't look quite as pretty as it might have if I had paid more attention to the recipe. Still tasted great though...sometimes looks aren't everything he he--says the woman blogging in her pj's with hair all amess.)
The recipe was discovered on Mommy's Menu, and this wonderful blogger is a stay at home mummy of seven little people. Amid all the business every day life presents for us stay at home mums, she still manages to cook up and blog some pretty amazing affairs! Bravo! Lets hope I'm still blogging and cooking up amazing things when I have seven!

CINNAMON PUMPKIN PULL APART BREAD (Adapted from Mommy's Menu)

Bread:

2 tbsp butter
1/2 cup milk
2 1/4 tsp dry yeast
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup sugar
pinch salt
2 1/2 cups plain flour
Extra flour for kneading and flouring surface

Filling:

1 cup brown sugar
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
pinch ground ginger
pinch ground cloves
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 tbsp butter, melted

Glaze:

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
3/4 cup icing sugar


To make the bread, in a large bowl, combine the butter and the milk. Microwave until the butter has melted, then set aside to cool until just warm. Add the yeast and set aside for 10-15 minutes to proof. The mixture will begin to foam when ready.
Add the puree, sugar and salt and stir to combine. Gradually add the flour 1/2 a cup at a time, mixing until well incorporated. Knead the dough with your hands for 6 minutes, adding 1 tbsp of extra flour at a time if too sticky. The dough should end up just slightly tacky by the end of the kneading, and be smooth and elastic.
Lift the dough from the bowl and spray with a thin layer of cooking oil. Replace the dough and cover. Set aside in a warm place to rise for 60-90 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Meanwhile, to make the filling, place the brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg together in a bowl. Mix until well combined.
When the dough has risen to twice its original size, turn it out onto a floured surface and punch it down with your fist. Knead for 2 minutes, then roll out into a 20x12 inch rectangle. Brush the surface with the melted butter, then evenly sprinkle on the prepared sugar and spice filling.
Using a pizza cutter or smooth bladed knife, cut the dough into 36 squares (6 rows horizontally by 6 rows vertically)  Stack the squares of dough three high, so you end up with 12 stacks of 3. Stack the piles of dough vertically in a 9x 15 loaf tin. Cover the tin with a clean tea towel and set aside to rise for 30-40 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180C.
Once the dough has risen, bake for 30-40 minutes until a deep golden brown. Remove and cool for 10 minutes before turning out on a wire rack to finish cooling.
To make the glaze, place the butter, brown sugar and milk in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla and the icing sugar to form a paste, then pour over the cooled bread. Serve.

The first stages of the bread making: melted butter and warm milk with the yeast form a foamy substance when left to sit for a while. Addition of puree and flour make a soft dough.

More flour is added little by little to make the dough less sticky, and it forms a smooth ball. It is left to rise and then is turned out onto a floured surface, punched down and lightly kneaded before rolling out.

A slathering of butter then covers the dough and a mixture of sugar and spices is evenly spread on the surface. The dough is then cut into rectangles, stacked in the tin and left to rise. Then it is cooked, and drizzled with a glaze when cooled.