Pumpkin & Spelt Cob (yeast free)

I love baking bread, but lately I've been experimenting with soda loaves. It's not that I think yeast is bad, per se, but too much of anything's not great, and a different type of bread is just another string to le bow, no? 

I'm also playing around with hidden veggies at the moment - ways I can increase my kids' intake without them declaring "But I don't *like* salad, mum!", which is what my three year old declares when anything green even touches his plate!

Ingredients: 

About 1.5 cups mashed pumpkin or sweet potato

3 cups spelt flour, sifted

2/3 cup full fat milk

1 tablespoon bicarb soda. 

Pre heat oven to 190'c and line a tray with baking paper. 

Combine bicarb and milk and set aside for ten minutes, stirring gently occasionally. It will thicken quite impressively. Meanwhile, cook your pumpkin and mash - no need to add anything else. 

Combine the milk milk, spelt and pumpkin in a bowl until you have a loose dough. Don't worry that it's not the consistency of a regular dough. As long as it is firm enough to hold a rough shape, you're good to go. Tip the bowl out and form a round cob shape on a tray lined with baking paper. 

Bake for around 50 minutes then leave to cool another 20 minutes or so. 

I served it cut through the middle and topped with sliced pear, sauteed mushrooms and goats feta.