Sweet pumpkin brioche couronne with almond, cinnamon and chocolate filling / Coroa de brioche doce de abóbora, com recheio de amêndoas, canela e chocolate.

As soon as my friend Mena had the idea of making a sweet brioche pumpkin couronne, my taste buds started tantalizing straight away as I love the flavour and colour that pumpkin gives to food and specially sweet breads.

The day she made it and sent me a photo I was sold out and just had to wait until she published the recipe to give it a try. Well, it was not straight away but almost.

The result  in terms of flavour is, as I expected, superb and the smell while it is baking, is second to none. All the house smelled like Christmas.

I added dark chocolate chips to my couronne and I just made half of Mena's recipe as her recipe gave her enough dough to make 2 couronnes and I didn't want to make that much.

I also made my dough in a bread machine, selecting the "brioche dough" setting, as it was easier for me.

ingredients for the dough:

420g white bread flour

200g pumpkin purée

50g light brown sugar

1 large egg

80g butter, melted + extra for brushing

50ml milk, lukewarm

7g active dried yeast

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

zest of 1 large orange

method:

Measure all the ingredients into the bread machine pan in the order suggested by the manufacturer and select the "sweet dough" or "brioche dough" programme.

When the programme finishes, turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and knock out the air.

Shape the dough into a ball and put it inside a lightly oiled bowl. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave to rise in the fridge overnight.

Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface, knead it for 1 minute and roll it onto a 40 x 50cm rectangle.

ingredients for the filling:

100g unpeeled almonds, ground

100g blanched almonds, ground

50g dark brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

50g butter, melted and cooled

100g dark chocolate chips

method:

Mix all the ingredients together and stir until everything it well combined.

to assemble the couronne:

Spread the filling evenly over the rectangle.

Roll up the dough tightly like a Swiss roll and then roll it slightly to seal it.

Cut it almost in half lengthways, leaving it just joined at one end.

Twist the 2 dough lengths together and then join the ends to form a circular crown.

Transfer the crown to a baking tray, cover with clingfilm and leave it to rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180ºC.

Brush the top of the couronne with the remaining melted butter and bake in the oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown.

Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar.

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Quando a Mena me falou na ideia que tinha de fazer este brioche doce de abóbora, fiquei logo com os sentidos todos apurados.

Quando o fez e me mandou a foto, fiquei literalmente a salivar e ansiosa para que publicasse a receita, pois tinha de o reproduzir e assim foi.

Segui a receita da Mena, fazendo apenas meia receita, pois a receita dela deu para 2 coroas e eu não queria tanto.

Ao recheio adicionei 100g de pepitas de chocolate negro, só para tornar a coroa ainda mais gulosa e finalizei-a pincelando-a só com manteiga derretida antes de ir ao forno e polvilhada com açúcar em pó, depois de cozida e fria.

É absolutamente magnífica.

Obrigada Mamã Mena por teres ideias tão boas e gulosas!!

Recipe / Receita: As Aventuras de uma Mamã.