Growing up in a restaurant family, Antonio Campolio could always expect a freshly baked loaf to appear on the holiday table. His mother, Jelema, is a seasoned baker, and has been working the ovens at West Virginia's Greenbrier Resort for over 16 years.
These days, Campolio has his own foothold in the industry: he works as executive chef at the Marcus Whitman Hotel in Walla Walla, Washington; he's also been invited to headline a Beard House dinner next month. But when he's on the hunt for a special bread recipe, he still consults his mom. During some discussions about his event's menu via phone, they settled on this pumpkin–cranberry brioche. Flavored with puréed pumpkin and scented with pumpkin pie spice and mace, it's a natural bookend for a Thanksgiving feast. And even though Campolio will command the kitchen during his Beard House debut, Jelema will be on hand to bake the bread, like always.
