PREPARATION

1. Peel the pumpkin, cut and remove all seeds, then slice into small pieces. Place the pumpkin slices onto a tray lined with aluminum foil. Cover the tray completely with another layer of aluminum foil. Bake at 446˚F in about 30 – 40 minutes until the pumpkin slices are tender and can be easily mashed with a fork. Take the tray out; mash the pumpkin or blend it in a blender until it becomes smooth puree. Baking time will vary depending on type and ripeness of the pumpkin. You can also choose to steam the pumpkin but baking will give out more flavour

2. Mix first all dry ingredients and also the wet ones and then put them together and knead in the kitchen machine. Just make sure, the temperature of the mixture will not be higher than 40˚C, otherwise yeast may die. After 10 – 15 minutes, knead the dough until it becomes smooth and elastic. The dough is tacky but not sticky.

7. Grease the proofing bowl with a little oil. Place the dough inside the bowl and turn it around so that it is covered with oil (to prevent the dough from drying out). Cover the bowl with a damp towel. Proof at room temperature until the dough doubles in size. Proofing time will be between 45 – 70 minutes, dough will proof faster at warmer temperatures.

8. After the first proof, take the dough out of the bowl and knead for another 2 – 3 minutes until the dough is smooth. Divide the dough into 15 equal portions, each weighs about 40 – 45 gram. Or into more as you wish.

9. Shape the dough pieces into balls. Prepare a baking tray that is lined with parchment paper.

10. To make the pumpkin shape, there are 2 methods:

Method 1: Cut the dough using a pair of scissors:
Place the dough balls onto the tray so that they are about 3 – 4cm apart from each other.
Dust your hands with some flour, gently flatten the ball a little
Dip the tip of the scissors into oil. Using the scissors, cut the dough into “petals”. The dough should resemble a flower.
Do remember to dip the scissors into oil before use as the oil helps the cut petals to stay apart and not sticking back together during the second proofing and baking.

Method 2: Tie the dough using thread:
Use a long thread to tie around the dough ball in a way that the ball is divided into 8 parts.
Do not tie the ball too tightly as it will continue to rise a lot more during the second proofing and baking.
– The second method gives very realistic looking pumpkin buns; as well as filling of your choice can be added. However, this method is much more time consuming as the tying and un-tying process may get tedious.

11. After you finish shaping the dough, cover them by placing another big tray or big container on top. Icovered them with kitchen towel and plastic bag only. Proof for the second time until the dough rises to 75%.

12. Preheat the oven at 356˚F (You can start this when the dough rises to 70%).

13. Use the remaining 25 gram of beaten egg and mix it with 5 ml (1 tsp) water and let it pass through a sieve. Using a small brush, gently brush a thin layer of egg wash onto the surface of the dough. This will help the baked buns to have a shiny, golden brown crust. Then, use the tip of a chopstick or something similar to make a small hole in the centre of the dough. This is where you will be putting the stem on.

14. Bake at 175 – 180˚C (347 – 356˚F) in 20 – 22 minutes until the buns become golden brown. If you are making smaller or bigger buns, baking time will need to be adjusted. Don’t bake for too long or the buns will dry out.

After about 10-17 minutes (depending form the size of the pumpkins), rotate the tray so that the buns are evenly baked.

15. Remove the buns from the oven. When they are still hot, brush a thin layer of whipping cream or butter onto the surface; this helps to create an even shinier surface and also to give more aroma to the buns.

Let them cool down and enjoy!