Eat the Rainbow: Rainbow Swirl Bread
I’ve recently amassed a few unicorn-themed cookbooks. I’ve decided to start a new series where I try and review various recipes from these cookbooks. Rainbow swirl bread sounded like the perfect magical treat!
This particular white bread recipe came from Unicorn Food: Magical Recipes for Sweets, Eats & Treats by Rachel Johnson. This recipe was straightforward, easy to follow, and didn’t require any obscure ingredients.
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 1 packet active dry yeast
- 1 cup whole milk at room temperature
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tsp. kosher salt
- Food coloring
Even if you don’t have this cookbook, you could probably adapt any basic bread recipe and make it rainbow. You’re essentially dying your dough different colors and then rolling the different colored layers together.
Before you embark on any bread making adventure, know that it will take time. This took a total of about 2-3 hours. The prep work can take a while, as does waiting for the dough to rise multiple times. But the end result is a tasty and beautiful warm loaf of bread that will soothe even the darkest of souls.
The hardest part about this was mixing the food coloring into the dough. I lost count of how much time I spent kneading dough. (Then again, I may or may not have been imbibing beforehand. This is why I got some of the colors mixed up and ended up with what looks like black dough instead of the indigo I was going for. It ended up working out though.) The one warning I have about this recipe is that unless you have gloves, your hands are going to get stained.
The next time I try this recipe, I am going to throw in some edible glitter because sparkly rainbow bread sounds absolutely amazing.
Would I recommend this recipe? If you have patience and food coloring, absolutely. If you’ve got friends or little ones willing to help you dye the dough different colors, all the more reason to bake this magic bread. You might also be interested in making some rainbow sourdough bread.
Let me know if you try it!
