Halloween Fougasse – or ‘boogasse’

Posted on October 26, 2020 by Ink Sugar Spice

I started making Halloween-shaped fougasse when my twin lads were tiny – it became a bit of a family tradition in late October to get them to help me shape the bread dough into ghouls and skulls. Now I carry it on as I still am a big kid myself and it’s simply just nice bread. It’s particularly gorgeous dipped into a very cheesy fondue, even dyed green if you’re into the full-on ghoulish experience!

I’ve shown my Halloween shapes for many years on Instagram but I’ve never previously shared my recipe, so here it is. Hope you like it and have fun making your own Halloween shapes – you’re not limited to the pumpkin and ghost I’ve shown here.

A previous year’s example of my boogasse, to show some alternative shapes:

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A post shared by lynn clark (@inksugarspice)

Notes – this dough is a bit wet. If you don’t fancy kneading by hand pop it in your stand mixer with a dough hook.

Makes 2 large “boogasse” fougasse – enough for four people.

Preparation is about 1hr 45, though much of that is hands-off, with around 22 minutes baking.

Equipment

Large bowl
Scraper or knife
Two linen tea towels or a baker’s couche
Two large baking trays
Hand/stick blender or potato masher
Saucepan
Sieve
Measuring jug
Spoon
Scales

Ingredients

135g of pumpkin or squash flesh, chopped
500g strong white flour
7g fast action dried yeast
260g water
8g fine salt
Several turns of a black pepper mill
20ml olive oil, I used Filippo Berio organic extra virgin olive oil
(optional – one egg as an egg wash if preferred)

Method

Place the chopped squash in a saucepan and add enough water to almost cover it
Simmer until soft
Strain the squash, but sieve it over your measuring jug – you’ll need to keep the water it was cooked in. Press the squash flesh to get as much water out as possible (this is so you can measure it more accurately)
Mash or blend the flesh so it’s not lumpy or stringy
Top up the liquid with water until it reaches 260g
Make your dough, by combining the flour, salt, pepper, the squash, olive oil, yeast and liquid in your large bowl
Mix roughly and leave for 10 minutes
Tip out onto a clean surface and begin kneading. This dough comes together quickly and is a little wet
Knead for about 7-8 minutes until it starts to become smooth and glossy. Only use additional flour if you feel it’s absolutely necessary
Once kneaded, oil the bowl and shape the dough into a ball. Place it into the oiled bowl and cover with a clean linen tea towel or similar
Leave to prove for about 45 minutes until risen
Divide your dough in half
Flour both baking trays
Take half of the dough and cut off a small piece. Roll this into a long sausage/string shape
With the rest of this piece of dough, flatten it out to about 1 cm thickness, shaping it into a pumpkin shape (like a fat ‘8’ on it’s side with a short stalk)
Take the string of dough, persist lightly onto where the stalk is and curl it on it self across the pumpkin shape. Do NOT make the indentations at this stage (see image below)

Cover the dough with a tea towel
With the second piece of dough, pull and flatten into a ghost shape – but do NOT make the holes for the eyes and mouth yet (as in image above)
Cover this one with your other tea towel
Leave both to rise for about 30 minutes
While the dough is on its last proof, turn your oven on to 200C fan / 220F conventional / 450F
When the fougasse has risen, use the edge of a spoon to make the indentations on the pumpkin shape – as the spoon is curved it makes it easier. Use the handle end of the spoon to create the holes for the eyes and mouth on the ghost shape
You can now lightly brush with beaten egg if you prefer – my pumpkin was brushed with egg and the ghost was left without (so you can see the difference)
Place them in the oven and immediately turn it down to 190C fan / 210C conventional / 425F
Bake for 20-22 minutes until risen and getting brown
Leave to cool (or eat slightly warm)

Pumpkin rolls

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Ink Sugar Spice

Delicious at any time of the year, but particularly fitting to make for Halloween, these pumpkin rolls don’t just look the part, they taste it too as they’re made from a roasted pumpkin (or squash) dough.

I’ve written out the instructions (with some images) how to make these rolls into pumpkin shapes, but they can also be made into ‘normal’, round dinner rolls too. The dough is also marvellous when baked into a full sized loaf (top with toasted pumpkin seeds for extra oomph).

Notes

It’s a bit tricky to cut up just the right amount of pumpkin/squash for this recipe, so I suggest using a whole, small pumpkin or butternut squash. Once roasted it’s easier to weigh out the correct amount and any that is surplus to the recipe can be used up elsewhere (freeze for later, turn into soup, add to a pasta dish, mix into mash potato for example).

You can skip the shaping instructions and just make round rolls if you prefer.

Do make sure you get rid of all the string before serving!

Equipment

Large bowl
Scraper
Linen tea towel
Two large baking trays
Roasting tray
Sharp, large chef’s knife and potato peeler
Sieve (not fine gauge) and large spoon
Smaller bowl
Butchers/bakers string and scissors
Saucepan or microwavable bowl/jug (for warming the milk)

Ingredients

1 small pumpkin or squash (you will only need 120g once roasted, see notes above)
Strong white flour – 475g
Fresh yeast – 15g (or replace with fast action dried yeast – 7g)
Milk – 200g
Fine salt – 1 teaspoon (plus extra for the pumpkin)
Black pepper – several turns
1 ½ tablespoons of a good quality olive oil, I used Filippo Beri organic extra virgin olive oil (plus about another 3 tablespoons to drizzle on the pumpkin for roasting and to oil the bowl)

Method

Warm your oven to 180C fan / 200 conventional / 400F
Halve the pumpkin or squash and scoop out the seeds
Take the skin off the pumpkin and cut into large chunks (about 3-4cm)
Spread the pumpkin pieces out into your roasting tin and drizzle with olive oil, about three tablespoons’ worth and then sprinkle with some salt
Bake for about 25 minutes. The pumpkin pieces should be soft when pressed with a fork or spoon. If they are not ready, leave in for another 10 minute
When ready, leave the pumpkin pieces to cool a little until you can handle them
While the pumpkin is cooling, gently warm the milk in a microwave or a saucepan a little and stir in the yeast. Leave this to one side while you prep the pumpkin flesh
When the pumpkin flesh has cooled enough to handle (but is still warm), press the pumpkin through the sieve into the smaller bowl. It’s easiest to press it through wi th the back of a large spoon. This will remove any little crispy edges that you wouldn’t want in your bread and break down the fibres so that it incorporates into the dough more thoroughly
Make your dough, by combining the flour, salt, pepper, mashed pumpkin, olive oil and the milk/yeast mixture in your large bowl
Once combined roughly, tip out onto a clean surface and begin kneading. This dough comes together quickly because of the pumpkin flesh, so knead it for about 7-8 minutes until it starts to become smooth and glossy. Only use additional flour if you feel it’s absolutely necessary
Once kneaded, oil the bowl and shape the dough into a ball. Place it into the oiled bowl seam side down and cover with a clean linen tea towel or similar
Leave to prove for about 45 minutes until risen
Divide your dough in to eight equal pieces
Cut up eight pieces of the butcher’s string – each about a metre long
Taking one of the pieces of dough, shape into a ball
[See the images below for the following steps) Take the string and its centre point over the middle of the ball of dough, flip the dough over and make a loop round the dough and finish with a little twist of the string – your ball of dough should have a loop over it. Make sure you come back to the middle of the ball of dough and ensure the string is not tight or cutting into the dough
Twist the string and repeat another loop at 90 degrees to the first, so the ball of dough looks like a parcel
Repeat twice more, keeping the string between the first two loops – so that the ball of dough is eventually sectioned into eight wedge shapes. Tie off loosely and trim off the ends of the string

How to tie up the pumpkin rolls with string so they get that quintessential pumpkin shape when baked - inksugarspice #pumpkin #bread

Place the dough ball on a floured baking tray
Repeat with the remaining seven balls of dough
Cover the dough and leave to rise for about 30 minutes, until the dough has started to rise through the string and created a pumpkin shape
While the dough is on its last proof, turn your oven on to 220C fan / 240F conventional / 475F
When the rolls are ready, place them in the oven and immediately turn it down to 200C fan / 220C conventional / 400F
Bake for 20-22 minutes until risen and getting brown
Leave to cool and when cold, snip off the string from the underside of the roll and pull through the threads to ensure there is no string left before serving

Halloween mummified pizzas

Posted on October 21, 2018 by Ink Sugar Spice

Horribly easy and terrifyingly tasty mummy pizzas to make with your little pumpkins in the run up to All Hallow’s Eve or to give as treats for spooks and wizards who come knocking on the door. Dead simple, no tricks!

I love Halloween… I’m deeply disappointed that it’s a combination of complete apathy and some tatty cheap costumes for the most part. It doesn’t all have to be plastic bats, giant spiders and motion sensor-activated ghost noises (especially if you don’t have little children in the house). I tend to sculpt and paint a few pumpkins for the front door and inside I’ll arrange smaller decorative squashes, conkers, hops and other foraged greenery and light a number of candles and lanterns. For All Hallow’s Eve I usually bake (any ol’ excuse) and give out jelly wormy cupcakes or the like to squeals of delight/horror when trick or treaters knock. I do like the dressing up bit (read in to that as little or as much as you will!) and have made a number of costumes for my lads, my husband and myself. One year my husband looked like Sweeney Todd a bit too realistically and several parents were a bit perturbed…

As a change from dishing out yet more sugary treats to children, these mini pizzas make a great alternative. And, if you pass them out still warm they’ll have both fuel and a toasty belly on what’s a usually pretty cold evening as they traipse door-to-door. Of course, you could black out all the rooms, pretend you’re not in when they knock and scoff these yourself with a spooky film and a nice glass of Chianti. Now that’s a neat trick.

Notes

Makes 12 small pizzas
To make vegetarian, swap out the salami for mushrooms or thinly sliced peppers
if you don’t have chilli flavoured olive oil, just use your normal olive oil and sprinkle a few dried chilli flakes in

Equipment

Two large baking trays
Baking paper or parchment
Long knife, pizza wheel or mezzaluna
Wide straw
Large bowl
Clean linen tea towel or cling film
Rolling pin
Small bowl
Spoon
Scissors

Ingredients – base

Strong white bread flour – 500g (plus extra for dusting)
A rich or virgin olive oil, I’ve used the Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Filippo Berio – 1¼ tablespoons (plus a little extra for the bowl)
Fine salt – 1¼ teaspoons
Granulated sugar – 1 teaspoon
Lukewarm water – 350ml
Dried, fast acting yeast – 1¼ teaspoons

Ingredients – toppings

Sun dried tomato pesto – 70g
Concentrated tomato puree – 70g
Chilli flavoured olive oil – 1 tablespoon
Mozzarella – two 125g balls (you’ll need about 1 ½ balls for the pizza topping and a little extra to cut out the eyes)
Salame/pepperoni – 120g of sliced meats of your choice or a veggie alternative like mushrooms or peppers
A few black onion seeds, Nigella seeds or cracked black peppercorns for the pupils

Method

Mix all the ingredients for the bread (flour, oil, salt, sugar, water and yeast) together in a bowl, using your fingers
Tip out on to a clean surface and knead for ten minutes, you may need to add a little flour to the work surface if it continues to stick (but try kneading for a few minutes without adding the flour if you can)*
* you can use a stand mixer or food processor if you prefer, rather than hand kneading
When the dough becomes smooth and slightly glossy on the surface, it’s been kneaded enough and is ready for proving
Rub a little olive oil round the bowl and place the kneaded dough in
Cover with the linen tea towel or cling film and leave to rise in a warm (but not too hot) place for around an hour until it has risen well and a few large bubbles have appeared under the surface
Lightly dust your work surface and tip out the dough
Punch down the dough to knock the air out of it
Using the rolling pin and/or your hands, flatten out the dough as thinly and evenly as possible into a large rectangle. You should be able to get it to the size of a typical large baking sheet (40 x 27cm / 15″ x 10″)
Cut off a third off the end of the rectangle – you will need this for the mummy ‘wrappings’
Gently transfer the large portion of the flattened dough onto a piece of baking paper (this makes each mini pizza easier to pick up and move)
Cut this dough into twelve equal pieces, by first cutting along the middle lengthways, then making five equally spaced cuts. You should have twelve mini rectangles, about 20cm x 5cm (plus the ‘spare’ piece of dough you cut off)
Using scissors, cut the baking paper around the twelve pizzas, so they each have their own portion that they are sitting on
Cut the spare piece of dough into long strips of about 1cm width
Put your oven on to 210ºC fan / 230ºC conventional
Mix the pesto, puree and chilli flavoured olive oil in a small bowl to make a pizza sauce, then spoon it out equally between the twelve mini pizzas, using the back of the spoon to spread it out
Cut two thin slices off the mozzarella and keep to one side for the mummies’ eyes
Rip up the rest of the mozzarella evenly between the twelve pizzas
Now lay the pepperoni, salame or veggies (whichever you’re using) on top of the mozzarella
Taking one of the dough strips, you can now start to make the mummy ‘wrappings’
Lay a dough strip diagonally across the pizza and cut to size. Repeat in a random crisscrossing pattern until you’ve ‘wrapped’ each mummy pizza
You do need to squash the ends of every strips just slightly into the pizza base, otherwise when they bake they will lift up. Pinching the end of a strip to the base fixes them together
Place six pizzas spread out on each of the two baking trays, so they have some space to rise and spread out
Bake for 14 – 16 minutes until the bottom of the pizza is baked, the top of the wrappings are a nice golden brown and the mozzarella is gooey and a bit crispy round the edges
While the pizzas are cooling a little, you can make the eyes. Using a wide straw punch out circles from the remaining mozzarella slices and arrange in pairs (or even some threes!) on the pizzas, so it looks like the mummies are peering out from their wrappings
Add a Nigella or black onion seed (or a little piece of black peppercorn) to each eye so it looks like a pupil
Best served still warm, but can be eaten cold