Pumpkin Shaped Sourdough Bread (Sourdough Pumpkin Loaf)
Follow this easy step-by-step tutorial to make a sourdough pumpkin - a beautiful, delicious and festive centerpiece for fall holidays, dinner parties, or just because! It's easy to make pumpkin shaped sourdough, especially if you're already familiar with baking sourdough bread.
Servings: 1 loaf
Equipment
- Cooking or baking twine (not regular string)
- Scissors
- Parchment Paper
- A cutting board
- Dutch oven or cast iron combo cooker
- Optional: bread lame for scoring
- Optional: a cinnamon stick, half a pecan, or real squash stem
Ingredients
- raw sourdough dough, proofed in a round shape
Instructions
Make the Dough
- Use your favorite sourdough bread recipe to make a batch of dough. Follow all the usual steps to mix, proof, fold, and form the dough into a round shape. (We make the dough the evening prior, proof overnight in the fridge, then create/bake the sourdough pumpkin the following morning).
Create the Pumpkin Shape
- Leave the dough in the refrigerator until you have all your supplies ready.
- Cut four long pieces of twine (I found about 36” is plenty). Tie them all together with a single knot in the middle.
- Remove the dough from the fridge but keep it in the banneton or proofing basket for now.
- Spread the twine out on the top of the dough ball, with the knot in the center and the strings spread evenly to create eight lobes of the sourdough pumpkin.
- Place a piece of parchment paper on top of the banneton, followed by a cutting board on top of that. Use the support of the cutting board to flip everything over. Gently pull off the banneton or proofing basket.
- Lightly and evenly dust the surface of the dough with flour and gently spread it with your hands
- Use a bread lame to score fun designs into each section of the sourdough pumpkin if you wish!
Bake
- Use the parchment paper to carefully transfer the pumpkin shaped sourdough to your preheated baking vessel of choice - such as a dutch oven or a cast iron combo cooker.
- Bake the sourdough pumpkin following the recommended time and temperature from the bread recipe you’re using. (We preheat the oven to 475F for one hour with the combo cooker inside, bake for 50 minutes covered then a few minutes uncovered at the end)
- Transfer the finished bread to a cooling rack right away.
Remove string and enjoy!
- Allow your sourdough pumpkin to cool slightly before removing the strings. Carefully cut away and pull loose the string from the bread. Use the tip of a knife to pry loose any parts that are stuck to the surface of the bread.
- Add a “stem” to the top of your pumpkin shaped sourdough to complete the look! Using my bread lame, I cut a small X in the crust before inserting the cinnamon stick so it wouldn’t cause a big crack.
- I recommend allowing sourdough bread to cool for several hours before slicing, unless you plan to eat it all within a day or two (cutting hot sourdough leads to loss of moisture and goes stale more quickly).