By: Didi Stols
This recipe is a sure-fire way to convert any bokkom sceptic into a bokkom fanatic. The sweet, fruity, aromatic nature of the pumpkin bread lends itself so beautifully as a vessel to carry the unctuous salty, umami richness of the bokkom butter. Eat with your hands! Tear off a piece of fluffy pumpkin bread and mop up the golden butter. Feel free to adjust the amount bokkom you use in your butter, as for me, I’ll be going for as much as possible!
This recipe makes 12 large dinner rolls. Feel free to make your rolls half the size and get 24 mini rolls.
For the bread
120ml (115g) Milk
1 tablesoon Sugar
7g Dry Yeast
480g Flour
1 ½ Teaspoon Cinnamon
1 Teaspoon Ginger Powder
¼ Teaspoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg
Pinch clove powder
½ Teaspoon Salt
100g Sugar
200g Cooked Pumpkin Puree
55g Melted Butter
1 Large Egg
Egg Wash
1 egg
1 tablespoon Milk
For the Bokkom Butter:
Handful of Parsley (finely chopped)
Bokkom Dust or finely chopped bokkom
fillets 200g Butter
Method:
Firstly, make your pumpkin puree by roasting about 300g pumpkin slices in the oven until soft. Blits it in a food processor or mash with a fork to make puree and let it cool completely before use. Remember to measure out 200g puree, don’t use all of it.
Heat milk in the microwave for 30 seconds, until it reaches 50ºC. Mix in 1 tbs sugar with the yeast and let it sit for a few minutes.
Whisk together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, salt, and sugar. Then add the milk and yeast mixture, pumpkin, melted butter, and egg. Mix the dough on low in a stand mixer or by hand until you don’t see much loose flour on the edges of the bowl. Increase the speed to medium-low and work the dough for 8 minutes. Let the dough rise in a greased bowl, covered for an hour. Punch down excess air in the dough and divide into 12 pieces. Line a rectangular baking pan. Place the rolls inside the pan, cover it, and let the dough rise for another hour. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Position an oven rack to the middle position. Whisk the egg wash ingredients together. Then brush a thin layer of egg wash over the rolls. Bake the rolls for 23 to 25 minutes. After cooling the rolls in the pan for 10 minutes, transfer the rolls to a cooling rack. Make the warm bokkom butter by simply heating a medium pan and melting 200g butter, a hand full of chopped parsley and between 25 – 50 grams bokkom dust until it gets nice and foamy.
Serve everything warm as a showstopping starter!