You will need: Fireclay stones
Working hours: 25 minutes
Baking: ca. 40 minutes

Preheating: approx. 30 minutes
Top heat: approx. 280-300°C
Fireclay brick: approx. 160-180°C

In the BOBBY:
Preheating: approx. 10-15 minutes
Top heat: approx. 250-280°C
Fireclay brick: approx. 140-160°C

Ingredients (for 2 loaves)

For the brew:

• 25 g mustard seeds
• 70 g pumpkin seeds
• 60 ml water (100°C)

For the yeast dough:

• 500 g Hokkaido pumpkin, diced
• 1 kg wheat flour type 550
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 cube of yeast (room temperature)
• 10 g honey
• 15 g medium hot mustard
• 20 g salt
• approx. 250 ml lukewarm water (be careful with the amount of water!)

In addition:

• some pumpkin or cooking oil
• Semola or flour for the work surface
• Kitchen twine

For the brew:
Pour the hot water over the grains and seeds, mix and leave to soak for about 2 hours, covered.

For the yeast dough:
Place the pumpkin cubes in a pan with 75 ml water and simmer for approx. 20 minutes until soft.

Puree the pumpkin with a hand blender and leave to cool.

Mix the flour with the turmeric and the crumbled yeast in the mixing bowl of the food processor. Add the pumpkin puree, honey, mustard, salt and water (as required!) and knead everything in the food processor for approx. 10 minutes to form a smooth, but not too soft dough.

Add the stock and knead in briefly.
Place the dough in an oiled bowl or dough pan, cover and leave to rise at room temperature for approx. 1 hour until it has doubled in volume.

Then place on a lightly floured work surface, divide into two equal pieces and shape each into a round loaf.

Sprinkle two serving boards with semola and place the loaves on top, end down.

Cut eight pieces of kitchen twine about 70 cm long. Tie four pieces of twine rather loosely around each piece of dough. Do not tie too tightly, as the dough will rise again.

Tip:
Oil the kitchen string beforehand so that you can easily remove it after baking.

Cover the loaves and leave to rise for a further 40-45 minutes.
 
During this time, heat the Merklinger to approx. 280-300°C (BOBBY approx. 250-280°C).

Bake the loaves for approx. 40 minutes until crispy.

Remove the pumpkin loaves from the Merklinger and leave to cool on a wire rack.

Tip:
Serve the pumpkin bread with delicious apple butter.

To do this, beat 200 g of soft butter with the whisk of a hand mixer until creamy. Fold in a finely diced or grated tart apple.
Season to taste with salt and pepper and refine with 1-2 teaspoons of medium-hot mustard and 30 g of fried onions.