Sourdough Pumpkin Jack o’ Loaves
Dare I say…carving sourdough pumpkins might be more fun than carving real ones? My family had so much fun making “jack-o’-loaves” and carving them up this week. Set a tealight inside, light it up, and it makes the perfect cozy, spooky centerpiece for Halloween!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Making these will definitely be a must for our family in October from now on - they’re such a fun family tradition (making sourdough bread together, shaping, and getting creative with carving), the jack-o’-loaves are fun to eat or double as a Halloween decoration, and they would make such cute gifts too!
Ingredients
You can use whatever your normal artisan sourdough bread recipe is, but this is what I did. I tripled my go-to sourdough recipe (ending up with 2100g of dough), and then divided into different weights for a spooky, fun Halloween tower of bread pumpkins.
(Normal recipe - makes 1 700g loaf)
50g active sourdough starter, at peak
275g filtered water
380g flour (I use Sunrise Flour Mill organic heritage flour)
10g Himalayan/pure sea salt
How to Make Pumpkin Shaped Sourdough Loaves
If you missed my tutorial on how to make pumpkin shaped sourdough loaves, you can check it out here or watch the tutorial in the video below.
Instructions
Mix your dough and let sit for about 30 minutes (this is called the fermentolyse). Begin stretch and folds. Do one set (4 turns of your bowl) every 30 minutes for 2 hours, so 4 sets of stretch and folds total.
Move to bulk fermentation. I’m a big believer in never going off of the clock during a bulk ferment, but at the proper stage of bulk fermentation your dough should have risen about 50-70%, have lots of bubbles under the surface of the dough, and start to pull away from the sides of the bowl on top. This time will vary depending on the temperature of your dough and room.
When it’s reached the proper stage of bulk fermentation, remove the dough from the bowl, shape into a boule (round shape), place seam side up in your banneton, and put in the fridge to cold proof.
The length of your cold proof is up to you. My preferred time is about 24-36 hours.
Shaping into a Pumpkin:
When you’re ready to bake your bread, preheat your oven to 475°F with your Dutch oven inside. When it’s up to temp, remove your loaf from the fridge. This is when you’ll create your pumpkin. Read how to shape your sourdough loaves into a pumpkin here.
Baking
Once shaped with your twine for the pumpkin shape, quickly score your loaf as desired and place your dough into the hot dutch oven. Place the lid on, and put in into the oven for 20 minutes.
After the first 20 minutes, take the lid off the dutch oven and bake for another 18-20 minutes (keep an eye on it, every oven runs differently!).
When it’s a nice dark golden brown color, pull it from the oven and let your loaf cool for an hour or two. Cut the twine and gently remove.
Carving Your Jack-o’-Loaf
When you’re ready to carve your sourdough pumpkin, cut a circle into the top of your loaf (a serrated knife or even a small knife made for pumpkin carving works great). This is just like carving a normal pumpkin. Pull the top of your loaf off, and scoop out the inside of the bread. Don’t forget to save the top you cut out so you can put it back on later if you want!
Carve however you want!
For an extra fun Halloween-y touch, add a tealight and light it up inside your pumpkin loaf.
What to Make With Your Sourdough Pumpkin for Halloween
There are so many things you can do with these sourdough Halloween pumpkins, which makes them so fun to make! Not only are they a fun family activity and they make a cool decoration, but they would also be amazing to incorporate into a meal as an edible serving bowl or bread bowl for heartier soups or stews!
Make your own jack-o-loaves? Tag me on Instagram @sourdoughmamatn and show me!
Want to learn more about sourdough baking?
Check out my full Sourdough Basics guide, or sign up for updates on upcoming sourdough workshops right here.