Trader Joe's Fans Are Obsessed With Its Returning Pumpkin Brioche
It's pumpkin month, and Trader Joe's has kicked it off with the return of their pumpkin brioche twist. Trader Joe's Food Reviews weighed in on the matter two days ago: "Overall, this is an amazing fall product that I would definitely buy again." They admitted that they love brioche bread, so they were a prime target. However, they also noted that the pumpkin flavor of the brioche was not particularly present when compared to the cinnamon.
The take, which mingles absolute enthusiasm with the caveat that the bread's not very pumpkiny, was supported by the comments section. "So good for French toast," one wrote, "but didn't get much of a pumpkin taste." "THIS WAS SO GOOD WITH THE MAPLE BUTTER," another enthused before removing their finger from the shift key to say, "But yeah, I agree, not super pumpkin-y." The rest seem perturbed by the muted pumpkin flavor, exclaiming variations on the theme of "soo good."
Nevertheless, if you want a cinnamon-spiced brioche for French toast, these loaves are selling for $3.99 each.
Pumpkins are generally unflavorful
Trader Joe's Food Reviews notes that the weak pumpkin flavor isn't an anomaly. Milk and Pop's no-knead pumpkin brioche recipe also admits that "you can't really feel the pumpkin when eating this brioche." But this isn't for lack of pumpkin, as both foods have puréed pumpkin mixed into the dough. Rather, the issue is with pumpkin itself.
Society's obsession with pumpkin spice latte is with the spice medley, not the pumpkin. Talking to The Takeout, Marie Wright, Chief Global Flavorist at ADM Nutrition, said, "I wonder if people would even eat pumpkin pie if it doesn't have pumpkin spice in it. Pumpkin doesn't really taste like much." In truth, as HuffPost reports, a lot of pumpkin pies don't even have pumpkins in them. Indeed, 85 percent of canned pumpkin filling is made from Dickinson gourd, which is almost a butternut squash. The flavors we like in pumpkin spice lattes, muffins, or other goods really come from the cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and ginger.