Pumpkin bread for this season and every day

Just in time for the holidays is this gorgeous—and gorgeous tasting—bread. Pumpkin has gradually become more than a bit beloved in Chinese bakery goods over the years. 

This vegetable is, of course, an all-American native, but everything about it seems to appeal to the Chinese aesthetic, especially when it’s used in a food that ostensibly is as nutritionally empty as white bread, because then—voilà—your kids are eating vegetables!

Pumpkin has a gorgeous color going for it, which doesn’t hurt in the least. This reddish cast is auspicious. Until modern times, Chinese didn’t have a word for “orange” in Chinese (one of life’s many mysteries), and so the color “gold” was traditionally assigned instead, which is even better when you’re trying to describe something with more cachet. So there’s that.

Pumpkin schmear

And melon seeds are a big deal with the Chinese. Teatime has always included a little saucer of salted, roasted watermelon seeds on the side for nibbling. It’s a female art, though. 

My old girlfriends in Taipei loved this snack so much that many (most?) of them had a little notch in one of their front teeth from cracking zillions of them over the years. I never quite mastered this, and often ended up with a mush of shells and kernels in my mouth that I would then try to inconspicuously get rid of, usually failing grandly in the process.

But anyway. I’ve been playing around with the idea of making a pumpkin bread that wasn’t cakelike, but truly a bread. I didn’t want it too sweet or buttery, but finely textured and full of flavor, with just enough pumpkin to turn the bread into, well, a lovely shade of gold.

Fold over the long edges

I was thinking of a ribbon of pumpkin winding its way around in the bread, both because it would be so darned pretty, and also because it would lend a wonderful moistness to the affair and completely use up the can of pumpkin puree, which I did not want to see moldering away in the back of the fridge. 

Tastewise, I put my foot firmly down on there being no pumpkin spice. But a dash of ginger is nice, as is the coconut sugar that lends a slightly honeyed aroma without turning things too saccharine.

The crowning touch is the coating of pumpkin seeds. I mean, the loaf looks bejeweled when you get done with it! Their jade color contrasts perfectly with the loaf itself, and they brown just the right amount while the dough is cooking. Full of crunch and flavor, I’ve come to adore the end pieces because then I get a ridiculous amount of the toasted seeds in each mouthful. Yet another reason to be in charge of the bread knife in your house.

A Pullman pan

Again, I’m calling for a Pullman loaf pan. This will ensure that the loaf’s surface is completely embedded with the seeds and the top doesn’t get away with bald bits. It makes a whole lot of difference here, so try it out and see.

Pumpkin times three Pullman loaf

Nánguā nánguā nánguā tŭsī miànbāo 南瓜南瓜南瓜吐司麵包

Makes 1 (9 x 4 inch | 22 x 10 cm) loaf

Dough:

1 teaspoon active yeast

3 tablespoons | 45 ml warm water

2 tablespoons sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

⅔ cup | 180 g canned pumpkin puree (NOT pumpkin pie filling—see Tips)

2 cups | 300 g Chinese flour, plus about ½ cup | 750 g for kneading

Patting on the seeds

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup | 60 g | ½ stick unsalted butter, softened

Filling:

1 cup | 265 g pumpkin puree

2 tablespoons coconut sugar, or packed light brown sugar

½ teaspoon sea salt

¾ teaspoon powdered ginger

The rest:

Spray oil

1 cup | 150 g untoasted, shelled pumpkin seeds

Water for sprinkling

Ready to rise

1. Sprinkle the yeast on the warm water and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. (Theoretically, you can make this bread by hand, but the dough ends up being so soft and sticky that it’s definitely easier to have the mixer do all the work.) Let the yeast bloom for about 20 minutes, and then add the egg, pumpkin puree, flour, and salt. Mix these together and then knead on medium-low speed for about 10 minutes, until the dough is elastic and silky. Add the butter and continue to knead the dough for another 5 minutes or so to really build up the gluten. Remove the bowl from the mixer, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm area until the dough is at least double in size, around 1 to 2 hours. Punch it down and then let it rise another time until at least double in bulk. Dump the puffy dough out on to a board covered with flour and knead it by hand until it is not very sticky. Cover it again and let the dough rest for around 20 minutes.

Risen to the top

2. To make the filling, mix the puree, sugar, salt, and ginger together in small work bowl.

3. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured board, sprinkle some flour on top, and use a rolling pin to roll it out into a long strap around 18 x 8 inches | 45 x 20 cm. Use a silicone spatula to spread the filling all over the dough up to around 1 inch | 2 cm from the edges. Fold the long edges over toward the center to completely hide the filling, and then fold the short edges over each other to give you a squarish shape about 9 x 4 inches | 22 x 10 cm, which (ta-da!) is the size of your pan.  

4. Spray your Pullman loaf pan and lid with oil. Pour half of the pumpkin seeds in a large, rimmed dish. Wet your hands and smear this all over the loaf before placing it in the seeds. Pour the rest of the seeds over the top of the loaf and pat as many of the seeds into the wet dough as you can, but don’t stress if some of them fall off or refuse to fuse. What you do is sprinkle half of these renegade seeds into your pan before laying the seed-studded dough on top of them and then dust the top with any remaining seeds. Flick some more water over the dough and cover the pan with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until it almost reaches the top of the pan. (Remember that you must be able to slide the lid on top, so don’t let it overproof.)

Fresh from the oven

5. Set a rack just below the middle of your oven and set it for 350°F | 175°C. When the oven is ready, sprinkle some water over the dough to create steam inside the pan. Slide the lid onto the pan, set the pan in the oven, and bake for around 40 minutes. When you open the pan, the loaf should be a lovely golden brown and sound hollow when you tap it in the center. Remove the pan from the oven, turn the loaf out onto a cake rack, and let it cool before cutting it into slices. This freezes well, of course.

Tips

Use pumpkin puree here, not pumpkin pie filling, which has sugar and spices added.

This recipe uses up one 15 ounce | 425 g can so that you don’t have any leftovers. Yay.

Heavenly double pineapple buns

Pineapple buns are an iconic part of any good Taiwanese style bakery, but the fact that there is never any pineapple inside them has puzzled and, to be frank, annoyed the heck out of me for years and years.

I decided recently that it was high time I did something about this. And I have to admit, this was a no-brainer, and in fact is totally easy. All you really need to do is make some pineapple filling.

Now, as the weather gradually turns cooler, I thought some ginger would be really good in there. No cinnamon or nutmeg, thank you… I have had enough of the uber-prevalent pumpkin spice that insinuates itself into just about everything nowadays from early October until someone just after Thanksgiving decides to sub in oodles of sinus-clearing peppermint. 

A nice blob of pineapple jam

Instead, we have in here a good pinch of my favorite spice, a dribble of honey in both the filling and the bread, some freshly ground black pepper to add a touch of mystery, and a dollop of butter to keep things really luscious.

You can, of course, use ready-made pineapple filling or even pineapple preserves here. I just find those a bit too sweet. However, use what’s available and what you like—that’s always most important. Plus, you can always tweak them with lemon juice and spices to (literally) tart them up. It’s your call.

Do note that I've updated that previous recipe here. Just some little tweaks in the ingredients and directions, but the results are really fantastic, especially if you can enjoy them right out of the oven. 

Pinch the bun closed

Like all the Taiwanese breads I’ve been promoting lately, these are fantastic to keep on hand for whenever friends pop by or you get a tad hungry. They really freeze well and don’t stick together. Just be careful not to stack anything on top of them, as the brittle cookie dough might get crushed. Not the end of the world, but still.

Heavenly double pineapple buns

Fènglíxiàn bōluó bāo 鳳梨餡菠蘿包

Taiwan, kind of

Makes 16 buns

Filling:

2 (20 ounce | 600 g) cans unsweetened crushed pineapple

2 teaspoons ground ginger

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

The correct "fried egg" shape

½ teaspoon sea salt

¼ cup | 60 ml honey

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Dough:

1½ cups | 300 ml warm water

½ cup | 50 g powdered milk

1 tablespoon bread yeast

¼ cup | 85 g honey

1 large egg, lightly beaten

4 cups | 600 g Chinese flour, plus about 1 cup | 150 g more for kneading

1½ teaspoons sea salt

2 tablespoons | ¼ stick unsalted butter, softened

Cookie dough:

2 sticks (1 cup | 120 g) unsalted butter, softened

Cook the pineapple down

6 tablespoons | 80 g sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1½ cups | 240 g unbleached bread flour

1 large egg, lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Water, as needed

1. First make the filling: Empty the cans into a medium saucepan, preferably stainless steel so that you can keep an eye on the color of the pineapple. Cook the pineapple and juice down over medium-high heat until almost all the liquid has evaporated. As the liquid recedes, be sure to stir and scrape the pan so that the natural sugars in the juice don’t burn. They will begin to caramelize, though, which is really nice, so lower the heat as needed. Once the pineapple is a golden color, add the spices, salt, honey, and butter, and continue to stir over medium-low heat until the pineapple mixture is thick. Let the filling cool while you prepare the bread and cookie doughs. This will give you about 2 cups | 475 ml of pineapple jam, and you can prepare this step far in advance, if you like; just refrigerate or freeze it for later.

Flatten the cookie dough with bags

2. Now make the bread dough: Place the water in a medium work bowl, add the yeast, powdered milk, and honey, and let the yeast soften and bloom while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Using a food processor, stand mixer with a hook attachment, or just a bowl with a wooden spoon, stir in the egg, flour, salt, and butter, and then knead to form a sticky dough, adding more flour as needed, until it is soft and tensile. Clean and dry a work bowl, form the dough into a smooth ball, and place it in the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rise in a warm place until it is double in bulk. Punch it down, turn it over, and cover again until it is again double in size.

3. Now for the cookie dough: As soon as the bread dough is getting its first rise, use a food processor, stand mixer, or hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar together until light. Add the egg and flour, and then mix until smooth. Scrape the cookie dough into a smaller container, cover, and chill for at least an hour. 

4. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Divide the bread dough into 16 balls. Flatten each ball into a disc and fill every one with about 2 tablespoons of the pineapple jam. Pinch the dough around the jam as if you were making a baozi. Smooth the pinched area, making sure that the jam is securely sealed inside the dough. Turn the filled bun over so the smooth side is on top and shape it into a slightly flattened ball about 3 inches | 7.5 cm wide. Arrange 8 buns on each of the baking sheets. Brush each of the buns with the egg wash.

5. Prepare 2 small plastic sandwich bags and set one of them (if the bag has a fold, put that side on the bottom) on a wet washcloth on your work surface, as the cloth will help prevent the plastic from sliding around. Divide the cookie dough into 16 even pieces and roll these into balls. Try to use only your fingers and the heel of your hand, rather than your palm, as these will not warm up the dough.  

Dabbed with water

6. Place a ball of cookie dough on the plastic bag, cover it with the other bag, and press down on the dough with the heel of your hand to form a wide disc about 3 inches | 7.5 cm wide. Drape the disc over one of the balls of bread dough and pat the edges against the bread. Repeat with the rest of the cookie dough until all of the buns have been covered..

7. Dip a plastic pastry scraper in flour and make 4 even lines across the top of a bun, then crisscross these with 4 diagonal lines. (Don’t cut all the way down through the cookie dough, but rather mark them clearly, about halfway down the cookie dough, as otherwise the cookie bits will drop off into little diamonds, which would be sad.) Wipe your scraper often on a wet towel and dip the edge in flour, as otherwise it will stick and make raggedly edges. Repeat this with the rest of the buns. Use a pastry brush to dab water over the cookie topping on each bun. Let the buns rise for about 20 minutes.

8. Arrange 2 racks in the oven toward the center and then heat the oven to 350°F | 170°C. Just before you place the buns in the oven, brush that last beaten egg over the top of each one, hitting the whole cookie, so that it will brown evenly. Bake the buns for about 30 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through the cooking time, until the tops are a golden brown. Slide the sheets with the buns onto a counter so that they stop cooking on the bottom, and nudge them free once they have cooled. Eat warm or cooled. Store in an airtight container or freeze in resealable bags.

Taiwanese pineapple buns

Today's delightful pastries are an inescapable part of any good Chinese bakery’s landscape. They also confuse the heck out of people who try them for the first time because there is absolutely no pineapple in there. 

Pineapple buns get their name from the scored surface, which, you have to admit, does look more than a bit like a pineapple’s skin. 

I’ve loved these ever since I first moved to Taiwan and figured out through repeated tasting trips that they were remarkably good even though no fruit was involved.

It’s really a genius pastry: a crunchy cookie coating hides a soft raised bun, and that’s about it. When done right, the flavors are also super simple, as you taste little more than good butter, sugar, and yeast.

 

A thing of beauty

I’d like to give Taiwan all the credit for this, but I can’t. I am also unable to tell you that this was the invention of some clever Japanese pastry chefs, even though this bread wound its way to Taiwan via Japan. No, this is a variation on the Mexican concha. Next time you go to a Mexican market, check out their bakery, as you will find all sorts of buns with airy toppings there. Most of them will be shaped like shells, which is what concha means, of course.

Anyway, good things to eat have a way of finding new and appreciative audiences, and these conchas eventually came to look more like little pineapples.

What I like about making these myself is that I get to taste really good ingredients in here instead of too much sugar, cheap fats, and poor quality flour. Since there really are not that many things in here, the best eggs, butter, and flour will turn these into wonderful pastries.

The soft cookie dough

I’ve also put more cookie on top than is usually called for. I mean, a commercial bakery is probably going to cut corners, but when you make these yourself, you should emphasize whatever aspects of that recipe genuinely appeal to you, and that crunchy topping is definitely something that makes me smile.

To be honest, I’ve tried and tried to make these, but they never turned out right. Then, one time I figured out that cake flour had to be used in the bread, rather than all purpose, even though it was a yeast dough. The results were perfection: soft and light, yet just tensile enough to rise into light bubbles, almost like a brioche.

But the cookie dough threw me another curve ball, since I found that bread flour was needed to give this paste enough body to work with it without it falling apart.

None of this makes any sense, if you have much experience as a baker: cake flour for the bread, bread flour for the cookie part. And yet it works. Go figure.

 

Cookie dough on top of bread dough

So, throw these together soon. They don’t take much time, and if you give one to a Chinese friend, your reputation as a great baker will become a thing of legend.

Pineapple buns

Bōluó bāo 菠蘿包

Taiwanese cuisine

Makes 16

Bread dough:

1 package | 2½ teaspoons yeast

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons | 30 ml warm water

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

½ teaspoon sea salt

1 cup | 240 ml very warm water

¼ cup | 25 g powdered milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Around 4 cups | 560 g unbleached cake flour

1 teaspoon unsalted butter, softened, to grease the bowl

Cookie dough:

2 sticks (1 cup | 120 g ) unsalted butter, softened

6 tablespoons | 80 g sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Foamy yeast = live yeast

1½ cups | 240 g unbleached bread flour

Water, as needed

1 large egg, lightly beaten, for the egg wash

1. Sprinkle the yeast and sugar over the 2 tablespoons warm water and let the yeast soften and bloom while you prepare the rest of the ingredients. Stir the yeasty water after about 10 minutes – it should be foaming at this point, which shows that the yeast is still alive. If nothing is going on in the cup, get some new yeast.

2. Stir the softened butter and salt into the cup of very warm water until the butter melts, and then stir in the powdered milk. Place 3 cups | 320 g cake flour in a medium work bowl and then stir the yeast mixture and the egg to form a sticky dough. Add more flour until it is manageable, and then turn it out onto a floured surface. Knead the dough, adding more flour as needed, until it is soft and tensile. Clean and dry the work bowl, then smear the teaspoon of butter inside. Form the dough into a smooth ball and place it in the bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let it rise in a warm place until it is double in bulk. Punch it down, turn it over, and cover again until it is again double in size.

Scoring the top

3. As soon as the bread dough is given a chance to rise, make the cookie dough, since it needs to chill for at least an hour. Use a stand or hand mixer to beat the butter and sugar together until light. Add the egg and flour, and then mix until smooth. Scrape the cookie dough into a smaller container, cover, and chill for at least an hour.

4. Line two baking sheets with Silpat or parchment paper. Divide the bread dough into 16 even pieces and roll these into balls. Set 8 balls on each lined sheet. Let the dough rise while you work on the cookie dough.

5. Arrange two racks in the oven toward the center and then heat the oven to 350°F | 170°C. Prepare 2 sheets of plastic wrap and set them on your work surface. Divide the cookie dough into 16 even pieces and roll these into balls. Try to use only your fingers and the heel of your hand, rather than your palm, as these will not warm up the dough. Place a ball of cookie dough on a sheet of plastic wrap, cover it with the other piece, and press down on the dough with the heel of your hand to form a wide disc about 3 inches | 7.5 cm wide. Drape the disc over one of the balls of bread dough and pat the edges against the bread. Repeat with the other buns on that sheet.

6. Dip a plastic pastry scraper in flour and make 4 even lines across the top of a bun, then crisscross these with 4 diagonal lines. Wipe your scraper often on a wet towel and dip the edge in flour, as otherwise it will stick and make raggedly edges. Repeat this with the rest of the buns. Use a pastry brush to dab water over the cookie topping on each bun. Let the buns rise for about 20 minutes.

A water + an egg wash

7. Just before you place them in the oven, brush that last beaten egg over the top of each bun, hitting the whole cookie, so that it will brown evenly. Bake the buns for about 30 minutes, rotating the sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through the cooking time, until the tops are a golden brown. Slide the sheets with the buns onto a counter so that they stop cooking on the bottom, and nudge them free once they have cooled. Eat warm or cooled. They are wonderful with a pat of butter in the middle, too. Store in an airtight container.

Super light Taiwanese orange cheesecake

Taiwan’s cheesecakes are sublime. They’re light and fresh, plus they’re not very sweet, but the taste is off the charts.

These are nothing like New York cheesecakes, which are dense and creamy and very cheesy. Rather Taiwanese cheesecakes are almost like chilled soufflés.  

When I worked in Taipei, my girlfriends in the office would often take me along to a bakery whenever they needed an afternoon pick-me-up, and there these exquisite cheesecakes would beckon. 

Part of the allure would be the mirrorlike glaze that contained shimmering bits of colorful fruit. They looked so decadent, and yet turned out to be (almost) diet food because of their cloudlike texture.

These cheesecakes often are baked without a graham cracker crust, which lessens the sweetness by many decibels. This also means that all of the focus in this dessert is aimed at the cheesecake and whatever topping is slid on top.

Pretty as a picture

Finally, these are even more sensible because they’re make in very small sizes – only 6 inches or 15 centimeters in diameter – which makes a very good case in my mind for commandeering the whole thing for myself. 

I mean, these are relatively lo cal, right?

Taiwanese style orange cheesecake

Táiwān zhīshì júxiāng dàngāo 台灣芝士橘香蛋糕

Taiwan pastry

Makes one (6-inch | 15 cm) cake and serves around 6

Spray oil

Meringue:

2 large egg whites, room temperature

1 teaspoon orange juice

3 tablespoons sugar, divided in half

Rest of the filling:

About 4 ounces | 110 g cream cheese, room temperature

1½ tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1½ tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons | 85 ml whole milk, room temperature

2 large egg yolks, room temperature

1 tablespoon cornstarch

Cracked surface is A-OK

3 tablespoons cake flour

½ teaspoon fine sea salt

Finely grated peel of 1 orange

Boiling water, as needed

Topping:

1 envelope gelatin

¼ cup | 60 ml cool water

1 (11 ounce | 312 g) can mandarin orange segments in light syrup

Orange juice, as needed

1. Start this a day before you plan to serve it. Line a 6-inch | 15 cm springform pan with aluminum foil, spray lightly with oil, and then line it with yet another layer of parchment paper. Set a rack in the center of your oven and heat the oven to 350°F | 180°C.

2. Place the egg whites, orange juice, and half of the sugar in a very clean mixing bow. Whip on high with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the rest of the sugar and beat until the whites are a stiff meringue, but not dry. Scrape this into a clean work bowl. 

Arrange the orange segments

3. Place the cream cheese in the mixing bowl and beat with the paddle attachment until light. Beat in the butter and then the sugar. Slowly beat in the milk, egg yolks, cornstarch, flour, salt, and orange peel. 

4. Use a balloon whisk to fold a quarter of the meringue into the batter, and then gently fold in the rest. 

5. Scrape the batter into the prepared cake pan. Set this into a deep baking pan and add enough boiling water so that it comes up at least 1 inch | 2 cm around the cake pan. Bake the cheesecake in the water bath for 15 minutes, at which time the surface should start to barely turn brown. Reduce the heat to 250°F | 120°C and continue to bake for around 35 to 40 minutes. The edges will pull away from the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center will come out clean when it is ready. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and set it on a rack to cool for about 10 minutes.

6. Release the cake from the rim. Pull the parchment paper gently away from the cheesecake and then let the cake cool down to room temperature. 

Jeweled topping

7. Next, make the jelly top: Sprinkle the gelatin over the water and give it about 10 minutes to swell up and bloom. Drain syrup from the orange segments into a measuring cup and add enough orange juice (from that same one you used for zest) to get ¾ cup | 190 ml. Microwave this juice for a minute or two so that it almost boils, and then stir the gelatin into this hot liquid until the gelatin dissolves.

8. The cake will shrink as it cools, so the easiest way to mold a jelly top is to line the cake pan you just used with plastic wrap and use this as your jelly mold. You will then cut away any extra jelly later on. So, arrange the mandarin orange slices in the bottom of the pan in an attractive pattern. Pour about ¼ cup | 60 ml of the gelatin mixture over the orange segments and chill. When this has firmed up, pour in about ½ cup | 125 ml over the jelly and chill again.

9. When the jelly is very firm, remove it from the plastic and flip it over onto the plastic wrap and return it to the pan so that the oranges are on the top – this will give you a shiny surface on the finished cake. Pour in the rest of the gelatin mixture and then set the cheesecake on top. Cover and chill overnight.

10. Unmold the cheesecake onto a serving plate and trim off any excess from the jelly layer. Use a sharp knife to cut it into wedges, and wipe the knife with a hot, moist towel between slices to get sharp edges to each wedge.