Sweet Potato Brioche Loaf

Who could resist plum and bountiful orange sweet potatoes? The beautiful sight of those beauties in the market,  never fail to impress me and I'll end up buying the whole lot of it back home. It happened again and I carried a huge amount of it thinking of some savoury and sweet dishes. After few delicious sweet potato menu for few days,  I opted out to bake a humble sweet potato loaf bread.

This is not my first time baking bread with sweet potato. I baked sweet and savoury buns, rolls and bread with golden sweet potato and it's always a hit among my family. The gorgeous yellow sweet potato gives a beautiful natural colour to the bread which is a feast for eyes. 

I never added milk powder to any of my sweet potato bake but, I was amazed how a little amount of milk powder goes a long way in this recepi. The humble sweet potato has its own sweetness which works perfectly in the bread. Just boil them till soft and mash using a potato masher to get the puree. If you can find a canned sweet potato puree by all means, use them in the recepi. 

Dark colours surface is the signature of brioche loaf which can be achieved with the egg wash. The egg yolk lends a dark colours to the crust to the contrast of golden bread. It's soft, spongy and rich texture is everything you need in a good brioche loaf. 

Ingredients 

3 1/2-4 cups bread flour

1/4 cup whole milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

2 tbsp milk powder

1 1/2 tbsp active dry yeast

8 tbsp butter,room temperature

2 eggs,room temperature

2 tbsp granulated white sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg yolk, for brushing 

Methods

In a bowl,  add egg, milk and pumpkin puree. Stir well.

Using a kitchen aid attached with hook paddle, add bread flour, salt, sugar, milk powder and yeast to the bowl. Pulse for 30 seconds to combine. 

Make a well and add the pumpkin mixture.  Knead for 5 minutes and add butter. Continue kneading for another 10-12 minutes or till the dough soft and smooth.

Transfer the dough into a large bowl lightly greased with oil. Cover the bowl with kitchen towel and let the dough rest for 90 minutes in a warm place to rise.

Punch the dough to release air pocket and divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Using a rolling pin, roll each pieces into oval, fold the oval into thirds width wise and flatten the dough with rolling pin. Using you hand, roll the dough lenght wise and place into a greased loaf pan. Repeat with the remaining dough. Cover the dough with clean kitchen towel and place in a warm place for the dough to rise again for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven at 350'F or 180'C. Brush the dough egg wash and bake in the middle tray of the oven for 25-30 minutes or till the bread turns golden.

Remove from oven and cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely to wire rack before slicing.

Slather generously with butter and enjoy.