This Pumpkin Goat Cheese Brioche Twist is a savory pumpkin brioche loaf filled with goat cheese, twisted, and topped with pepitas.
So I made this loaf with the other half of the dough from the Brown Butter Cinnamon Sugar Pumpkin Brioche Buns.
Both those buns and this loaf only use 1/2 of the dough.
And on the day I made both I posted them on Instagram and on my personal Facebook page.
People were excited about both but they were really intrigued by this Pumpkin Goat Cheese Brioche Twist.
I took so many photos that day that I had to go to another photo card.
And when I sat down to edit the photos the last photos taken would not show up.
This happened once before…while I was shooting the cookbook.
You want to talk about freaking out. 🙂
I invented new swear words that day.
Said quite a few swear words the day I lost part of these photos.
Anyway, since I didn’t get the photos I took with the bread cut I figured I would just make it again the next time I made pumpkin brioche.
Which you may think would be awhile but in this house I make that dough usually twice a month.
But then people started asking me if I posted the recipe for the loaf yet.
Which, of course, I had not.
So I just decided what the heck, I will just post the photos I had and give the recipe.
It looks pretty inside too.
You just have to use your imagination. 🙂
One thing I love about this pumpkin brioche dough is it’s versatile.
Obviously.
It made both sweet buns and a savory loaf.
There are no pumpkin spice anything in it.
So the pumpkin just gives a hint of flavor, some color, and moisture.
Which makes for a nice soft loaf and buns.
This bread gets twisted similar to that of a babka.
You cut it down the center and then twist. And throw it in the loaf pan.
If you are a British Bake Off watcher don’t do what Lottie did with her babka and let the ends stick out.
Tuck your ends in people. 🙂
Even my husband was yelling at the TV about that one.
P.S. It’s a great day to buy my cookbook.
Want More Bread Recipes?
Orange Blossom Chocolate Challah Bread
Pumpkin Goat Cheese Brioche Twist
Ingredients
- For the Sponge:
- ¼ cup whole milk, at room temperature
- 2 ½ tsp. active dry yeast (I used Red Star Yeast Platinum)
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup bread flour
- For the Dough:
- 5 cups bread flour
- 2 tsp. salt
- 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 8 ounces (1 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
- For the Filling:
- 8 oz goats cheese
- For the top:
- 1/3 cup pepitas
Instructions
Note that you will only use one HALF of this recipe for the loaf.
For the Sponge:
Combine the milk and yeast in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and whisk until the yeast is dissolved.
Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir in the pumpkin puree, sugar, and flour, forming a thick batter. Cover with plastic film and let rest in a warm environment until bubbles form, 30-40 minutes.
For the Dough:
Add the flour and salt to the sponge, then add the eggs.
Mix on low speed for 2 minutes, or until the eggs are absorbed.
Increase speed to medium and knead the dough for 5 minutes. The dough will begin to slap around. Hold on to the mixer when necessary.
On medium-low speed, add the butter, 2 TBSP at a time.
Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl occasionally.(Recipe did not say to, but I switched to the dough hook at this point).
Knead until the dough is shiny and smooth, about 5 minutes.
Scrape out the dough, wash and dry the bowl, and coat it lightly with oil.
Place dough in the oiled bowl and turn it so that the top is coated with oil. Cover with plastic film and let rise at room temperature until doubled in volume, about 2 hours.
After the dough has doubled in volume, press down to deflate, folding one half into the other.
Cover with plastic film and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. This is the second rise.
Remove brioche dough (that has chilled overnight) from the fridge.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll it into a rectangle as thin as you can get it.
Slice the goats cheese into 12 slices. Distribute them as evenly as possible across the rolled out dough leaving the 1-inch margin.
Starting from the long side closest to you, roll up the dough like a jelly roll.
Cut roll in half crosswise.
Make an "x" with the pieces.
Twist each end together.
Place dough twist in prepared pan.
Cover the dough with plastic film coated with pan spray and let rise at room temperature until it has doubled in size and filled the pans completely, 1 ½ to 2 hours.
Sprinkle top with the pepitas. Some will fall to the sides that is totally fine.
Toward the end of proofing preheat the oven to 400F. Adjust the rack to the center of the oven.
Bake for 10 minutes.
Turn down the oven temperature to 350F and bake for 30-40 minutes more until it has a golden crust and an internal temperature of 180F.
Remove the brioche from the pan as soon as they come out of the oven and cool it on a rack before serving.
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