Rustic Yeast Carrot Bread

A rustic, moist yeasted loaf made with carrot purée, giving a beautiful orange hue and a fragrant, sweet background aroma. The natural sugar and starch in the carrot purée yield an incredibly tender, golden crumb with a lightly flaky crust, add subtle, natural sweetness and also extends the bread's shelf life, keeping it soft for several days. You could also add some chopped carrot tops or parsley and sunflower seeds or walnuts for more colour and crunch.


350 g Carrot, peeled and cut into chunks 500 g White bread flour 1 tsp Fine sea salt 7 g Instant dry yeast 80 ml Cooking water 1 Small egg 1 tbsp Olive oil 1 tbsp Melted butter, to brush

Place the carrot chunks in a pot of boiling water. Boil for 20-25 minutes until soft. Strain the carrot, and reserve about 80 ml of cooking water. Transfer the carrots in a food processor and blitz until puréed and smooth. You should have about 270 grams of carrot puree.
In the bowl of your mixer, add in bread flour, sea salt at one side, and dry yeast at the other. Mix together. Make a well in the center and add in carrot puree, 80 ml of cooking water, egg and olive oil. Mix at slow speed until a rough dough has come together, then increase the speed and knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Grease the mixing bowl with a little bit of olive oil and return the dough ball to the bowl. Cover and prove for 60-90 minutes until doubled in volumn. Line a 22x12x10 cm loaf pan with parchment paper.
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Shape into a loaf and place it into the prepared loaf pan. Cover with a clean towel and prove for 45-60 minutes until puffy.
Preheat the oven to 190C/375F. Brush the bread with water and bake in the middle of hot oven for 35 minutes until golden brown. Remove and brush the bread with melted butter. Turn out on a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.