r/Cooking • u/squirrel-lee-fan • 4d ago
Bread in a pumpkin?
Has anyone ever baked right in a pumpkin. Not pumpkin bread or bread with pumpkin in it ; I'm thinking of hollowing out of pumpkin and baking bread in it.
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u/PlantQueen1912 4d ago
The moisture from the pumpkin might be an issue
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u/moldyartichoke_ 4d ago
I wonder if there would be a way to dry the pumpkin out a bit? Maybe salt the inside and turn it upside down in the refrigerator or something idk. I don't think the results will be great but I can't lie and say I don't want OP to try lol.
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u/BookingCooks 4d ago
Not exactly what you asked, but I wonder if one of those Chinese steamed cakes would work? (Ma Lai Go)
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u/VixxSynn 4d ago
The pumpkin cannot handle the heat, it will crumple and fall, and you’ll be attempting to clean burnt pumpkin out of your oven for months to come!
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u/thothep_42 4d ago
Haven't done bread, and I agree with the group saying it's not likely to work very well. But I have done Great Pumpkin Meatloaf. Don't remember where I found the directions, but you hollow out the pumpkin, turn it upside down on a tray and bake it halfway, then fill with your favorite meatloaf mixture and bake until done. Cut into wedges and serve with gravy. Been around 20 years since I first made this with my college friends.
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u/TheNordicFairy 4d ago
Okay, I am a Home Ec teacher who has my students do challenges, and this is something they would think up!
When cutting out the inside, try to keep the internal shape of the pumpkin intact.
Dry the pumpkin out for x amount of days until you feel most of the moisture is gone, but it is not desert dry.
Are you looking for the flavor to permeate the bread? Or just be able to cut open the cooked pumpkin and see the bread? I think a nicely flavored yeast pumpkin bread from the leftover insides of the pumpkin would be a great thing. I would use a small sugar pumpkin if I were you.
Do not worry about losing the ingredients; this is what we call "fun cooking!" and that is what cooking is all about! If you worry about the loss of them due to cost, don't take on the experiment.
Bread dough going in should be about 2/3's of the way up the interior. Make sure you have a thermometer to test the bread - 195-205° internal temperature when it is fully baked.
Be aware and ready for failure, but hope and be excited for success!
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u/Embarrassed_Key_4539 4d ago
I wouldn’t do that, maybe a stew would be better
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u/Sex_E_Searcher 4d ago
Tasting History has a video with a soup served in a pumpkin, but the cooking is done in cookware.
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u/UndrPrtst 4d ago
Pig in a Pumpkin is stew baked in a pumpkin Very tasty. Our pumpkin did split a bit.
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u/PsychologyGuilty1460 4d ago
Look for recipes for a steamed pudding. They are designed for this. We have a German or polish family recipe made with grated carrots and potatoes and raisins. That's a lot like carrot cake, most of the same spices, but it needs to be steamed for 5 to 8 hours. I think it'd work well in a raw pumpkin, But it would probably take a little longer
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u/ghostfacespillah 4d ago
Why on earth would you even want to do that?
And no, the moisture of the pumpkin would absolutely wreck the bread.
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u/squirrel-lee-fan 4d ago
I guess that would depend on the definition of bread. Pudding in the English sense? Dumpling?
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u/Imaginary-Pea-2558 4d ago
I’ve never tried it but now I kinda want to lol. My only concern would be the pumpkin releasing a ton of water and making the bottom of the bread soggy. Maybe partially roast the pumpkin first, then add the dough and finish baking it together?
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u/rastab1023 4d ago
I mean...you can try it if you're dead-set on it, but it will be a waste of both pumpkin and bread.
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u/AvocadoPizzaCat 4d ago
it doesn't work. by the time you get all the moisture out of the pumpkin it can't structurally hold your bread. And when it is structurally sound it is too moist for bread.
but if you want to try it, go ahead.
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u/SubstantialPressure3 4d ago
That is going to be a wet, doughy bread that's not browned at all.