Rainbow Swirl Classic Bread - Home Baker's Challenge # 4

This month's challenge for Home Bakers Challenge was announced by Manjula of Desi Fiesta. She chose bread for this month's challenge with four choices – Rainbow swirl classic bread, monkey bread, chocolate marble Asian bread and Anadama bread.

I love Rainbows.. And so does my son.. I chose a bread that would definitely brighten everyone’s day with its Rainbow colors.. I thought it would be an incredible idea to have fun making this bread along with my son. . My son was soo excited  choosing and deciding the colors I should use..  Believe me, it was absolutely a WOW moment when I sliced the bread. My son loved it and insisted to take some for his school snacks in the form of sandwich :D

Ingredients:- 

• 3½ cups all purpose flour
• 1¼ cups warm water
• 2 tbsp butter (at room temperature) 
• 1¼tsp yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt 

Method:-

• In bowl take warm water and add sugar and yeast. Stir them and let them sit for 15- 30 mins till they form frothy bubbles on top.
• Add 2 cups of flour mix it with a wooden spoon and let it sit for 10 mins.
• After 10 min mix it with wooden spoon and add another ½ cup of flour mix well also add salt. 
• Gradually add the remaining flour and mix the dough well.
• Add butter in the dough and incorporate them by kneading well for 5-6 minutes. After 5-6 minutes of kneading it becomes nice and elastic. 
• Now grease a bowl and and keep the dough covered with a cling wrap for first proofing for about 30 mins. 
• After 30 minutes the dough is nicely raised punch it and give it a knead . Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. 
• Divide dough into 6 or 7 equal pieces place each piece in a small bowl and cover with a tea towel. 
• Remove one piece from a bowl and place it on a plastic cutting board (or any surface you're willing to cover with food coloring). Add several drops of food coloring as per your liking.
• Using gloves to prevent your hands from getting dyed, begin to knead the food coloring into the dough, adding more food coloring until it is fully incorporated. This takes some time; just be patient and it will come together!
• Shape dough into a ball and return to its bowl. Repeat with remaining pieces of dough, dye each dough with different color (red + blue makes purple), being sure to wash your hands/gloves and your work surface between each color.
• Cover bowls with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1½ to 2 hours.
• When dough is risen, punch down all the colourful doughs. Remove red dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface into an 8-by-4-inch rectangle. Roll out yellow piece of dough into an 8-by-4-inch rectangle and place directly on top of red dough. Repeat with green, then blue, then purple doughs until you have a stack of 8-by-4-inch rectangles. 
• Roll up dough tightly from the short end into a loaf. Place loaf in a lightly greased 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Cover with a tea towel or plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 375- 400°F. Uncover dough and bake until browned on top and a thermometer inserted in the bottom center reads 190°, about 30 minutes or until the bottom of the loaf sounds hollow when tapped.
• Keep aside till cool.

Notes:-

• While you dye if you feel the dough is difficult to handle then you can dust some flour and incorporate the colors to the dough.
• Dyeing may take little time and you have to knead the dough till dough is fully dyed and no part of dough is un- colored it takes some time. 

 Happy Baking!!!