Colour me happy with Spiced pumpkin butter rolls.

I am sure most of you have little things in your life that when you instantly look at it, brings a little joy to the normal routine. It could be the 5 minutes of peace during the sun raise or sun set, seeing your children’s smiling faces or the stash of candy and chocolate in the little black box; the mere sight of these produces a deep, soothing comfort. We all need these little busts of happiness and comfort in our lives to balance out the current affairs and reality of life, or else I think the world would be much darker place.



One thing that makes me happy more than anything else is seeing the variations of colours in fruits and vegetables in the green grocers or supermarkets. Strange, yes but the feeling of seeing the vibrant splashes of colour among the monotony really does make me excited. I can only dream of having excess to the diversity of coloured vegetables and diverse fruit in a metropolitan setting but sometimes things do pop up.
One of my more recent, discoveries is the gold, purple and green cauliflowers which finally sneaking its way in to areas that are more common. The first time I saw them I had to have them. The brightness of purple and gold cauliflower that night made a wonderful roasted salad with a red onion and pine nut vinaigrette. Yes they cost a bit extra but hey it is my indulgence.



Of course on a daily basis the sight of yellow pumpkins delivers that same glow but is slightly cheaper. I often make pumpkin after discovering it a few years ago, today I have place it in a bread roll for you all. The tint of yellow this roll delivers is enough to brighten up the dullest of kitchens. The pumpkin retains the rolls softness for days even though there is a higher than normal amount of butter, perfect with a simple jam or spread with ricotta. More importantly sight and smell of bread in any kitchen delivers as much joy as chocolate cake (or more so in my case).
Simple pops of colour in the day are delivered in my yellow kitchen.





Spice Pumpkin rolls


Makes 15 large rolls


Pre dough

150g bread flour

3g yeast

80g warm water

Mix until the ingredient form a firm ball. Allow to double in size about 3 hours in a warm temperature kitchen.

Final dough

400g bread flour

All of the pre dough

1 egg

70g milk

30g sugar

1tsp cinnamon

1/2tsp nut meg

1/4tsp ground cloves

1/4tsp ground ginger

1/4tsp all spice

10g salt

6g yeast

120g butter, room temperature

166g pumpkin puree

Mix the above ingredients BUT the butter in a standing mixer or in a large bowl. Knead until a softball forms.

With the kneading attachment or hand, knead the butter in to the dough until it passes the windowpane test. This can take up to 30 minutes, so you can take a break at the half way mark, because it will allow it to rest a bit.

Leave in an oiled bowl covered in cling wrap for 1 hour or until doubled.

Push the dough down to release the air. Prepare two trays with grease proof paper.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle about 1cm thick.

With a sharp knife cut the dough into equilateral triangles.

With the pointy end away from you, roll the triangle up in to a crescent and pinch the side corners to seal. Place on tray about 6cm away from each other.

Once all the pieces are rolled, cover in cling wrap and leave for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 200c. Bake rolls for 15-20 minutes until a deep brown.