Rainbow Swirl Bread

The love for colours. How about some Rainbow Bread to amaze your little ones.

Here to get the colours you can use natural flavoured extracts or edible colours. Natural extracts that can be used here also.

I have used edible food colours (Blue, Purple, Red) along with flavoured mixes (example - Pista, Almond). If you have other flavours in stock you can use that too.

Each slice of bread would revel the swirly rainbows. So lets get started.

Recipe:

2 cups All Purpose Flour

1.5 tsp dry active yeast

2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2-3 tbsp melted butter

1/2 to 3/4 cups milk

2 tbsp lukewarm water

Edible food colour/ Flavoured essences

Put yeast , sugar and lukewarm water in a cup and let it sit for 10 minutes to activate the yeast.

Make sure that the water is just warm and not too hot. Else it will kill the yeast.

In a big bowl put sieved flour, salt and activated yeast mixture and now gradually add milk.

Check the dough consistency and then add the entire milk. The dough should be on a wetter side.

Place the dough on a silicon mat or clean kitchen counter for the kneading.

Now use your hands and knead the dough for about 8 to 10 minutes. You should stretch the dough with your palms and bring the dough rolled back together. Add in melted butter in parts while kneading.

The dough has to be smooth, soft and light.

Be patient with the process and it will definitely come together. If you feel its dry add in some milk. If its too wet add in some flour.

Keep the dough in a greased vessel and cover with a wet napkin for 1 to 1.5 hours. This depends on the quality of the yeast.

After first rise the dough should double up. Punch out the gas.

Separate the dough into small rounds.

Add in the edible colours/ flavoured essence.

Knead in the colour till fully incorporated. You can always reduce the edible colouring that is added to your preference.

So now its the rolling time! Roll the dough into circles.

Go from outer colour to inner colour. So when you combine them you will end up with the rainbow colours.

So I have gone from outer pinkish red to inner violet shade. After each rolling of the dough place them over the previous colour.

Now roll them into a log. Its not necessary that each dough should be of the exact diameter.

So at the place where you combine you may have different colours as in my photo.

Pinch the ends tightly as you don't want them to open up after baking.

Now keep the log in a greased baking loaf pan. Let it rise for another 30 minutes.

Cover the loaf pan with a wet napkin. After 30 minutes the bread dough would have risen again to double the height.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius.

You can give a egg or milk wash if you need good browning. I have avoided that as I didn't want to loose the colour on the bread. Bake for 20 minutes.

After the bread is baked let it cool on a wire rack.

Once completely cooled slice your bread with a bread knife. The magic is revealed and you have the fun rainbow swirl bread.

The kids would surely be surprised to see rainbows in their bread slices.