Almost Rainbow Bread

When we were little my Mom would take me and my brother to Harry's Farmers Market. The trip in and of itself was a trip, but it became extra special when she would buy us rainbow bread. It usually looked like this.

I decided it would be special to make my own. Too bad it looked like this.

If there was a bread wrecks website for bread, like there is for cakes, this would defiantly make the site. The problems were only aesthetically. It tasted, well like bread, and was used for sandwiches all week .

It was a very easy bread to make without a bread machine, and if I make it again, I'll know how to make it pretty then.

First dissolve the yeast in warm water. If you have never used yeast before, be prepared, IT IS SO COOL! It will fiz, and pop and well grow.

I was wanting to make a bread to be able to use the bread attachment on my mixer.

It helps to use bread flour, but it is defiantly not required. Self rising wrks too.

Add the first 1 1/2 Cups of flour and salt to the yeast mixture.

Mix really well for a few minutes.

The add the rest of the flour a 1/2 cup at a time, incorporating it after each addition. Doing it this way makes it easier to mix in the flour, and helps the consistency of the dough.

When it looks about like this it is ready to be kneaded.

Flour your work surface, as the dough is sticky and will stick to the surface if you don't.

Knead the dough for at least 10 minutes (or till your hands get tired).

Put the dough ball into a bowl and cover with a towel and allow it to rise.

After it has risen, divide the dough up based in how many colors you want to use. These were the colors I had on hand. This is also where all the problems with my wana-be rainbow bread began. I could not get the color to distribute evenly. I tried kneading it in, mixing it in, it just did not work. I used regular grocery store bought food coloring, and I believe that if I had of used professional food coloring instead, it would have worked better. But, oh well, tie dye bread it became.

And tie dye hands.

I also made a minor major mistake here. I decided to make two loafs of bread, but really its just enough dough for one. So i put my misshapen, dough loafs in the pans, and got misshapen leafs of bread. Lesson learned.

But slice it up and it still has a pretty cool effect.

Rainbow Bread

Thanks to This Lady

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/4 teaspoons yeast

For bread machine:
Measure ingredients into baking pan in order given. Set for dough cycle. When the dough is ready, proceed with "To Colour" below.

For hand mixed:
In a large bowl, Disolve sugar in lukewarm water. Add yeast. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir. Add 1 1/2 cups flour and salt. Mix vigourously for at least 5 minutes. This will reduce the kneading time. Add balance of flour 1/2 cup at a time until dough is smooth and no longer sticky.

Turn onto a floured board and knead for 10 minutes. Cover dough with a clean tea towel and let rise in a warm place for 1/2 to 1 hour, until it doubles in size. Punch down to remove all air bubbles.

To Colour:
Divide dough into 3 or 4 equal parts (one part for each colour desired). Poke a hole in the dough with your finger. Put food colouring into the hole. Use a little (5-6 drops) for light colours, more for bright colours. Pinch the hole closed and knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes, until the colour is well mixed in.

Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out very flat. Use a little water to moisten the top of one piece so the next piece will stick to it. This is very important if alot of extra flour was used to keep the dough from sticking during kneading. Roll the dough into a log and place it in a greased and floured bread pan. If you do not have a bread pan, it can be placed on a greased and floured cookie sheet. Let rise for 45 to 60 minutes. More rising time will produce a lighter bread, while less time will result in a denser bread.

Heat oven to 350'F. Bake bread for about 25 minutes. Remove bread from pan immediately when done. Bread should sound hollow when tapped on the bottom. If it does not, it is not cooked yet. Cool 10-20 minutes before cutting.