Bread! What can I say…. I love it with all my heart!
And if its pink? Lead me to it NOW.
My secret wish: That everyone in the world would bake bread!
Hmmm, I seem to be getting my wish considering how elusive yeast seems to be of late.
But ditch your bread makers, shelve your Kitchen Aid mixers, forget the no-knead recipes!
Get over your fear of bread today!
White bread is easy. White bread is forgiving. White bread is adaptable!
By white bread I mean bread made with simple all purpose flour. Yes, I can’t claim that its health food — but have you read the label on a bag of store bought bread?
Bread should have 5 basic ingredients. Flour, water, yeast, sugar and salt.
Not 36 — give or take a few! And no crazy 15 letter words that you don’t know the meaning of, or can’t pronounce.
(This is bread, people. Not a spelling bee.)
So anything you make at home without any of those unpronounceable additives has to be healthy, right? Right.
So let me not hear any murmurs of dissent! Buy your bag of white flour and beg, borrow or steal that yeast from somewhere and lets make a glorious pink bread together!
Think of how happy your little girl (or big girl/ or boy) is going to be. Fairy bread spread with strawberry jam and a dollop of cream cheese.
Beetroot Bread
INGREDIENTS
- ¾ cup water
- 1 small beetroot, peeled and roughly chopped
- ½ cup warm milk
- ¾ tablespoon active dry yeast
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2-4 tablespoons oil
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 4 to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour, more or less
INSTRUCTIONS
- Blend the beetroot and water in a turbo blender until smooth. If using a normal blender, you may have to pass the purée through a wide sieve. Measure out the puree adding water if required, to make it 1 cup of liquid.
- Mix yeast, in ½ cup of warm milk and sugar in a glass measuring jar and set aside for about 3-5 minutes until it is foamy and bubbly.
- Mix 4 cups of flour and salt in a large bowl. Use the rest only if you have to.
- Add the foamy yeast mixture to the flour.
- Next add the puréed beet mixture and mix until you have a shaggy dough.
- Add the oil and continue mixing until all the flour comes together.
- Turn the dough out onto a large mat or your counter and start kneading gently — about 7-9 minutes.
- The dough should be soft and smooth but still slightly tacky to the touch.
- Lightly grease the same bowl with a little oil and place the kneaded dough in the container.
- Cover the bowl with clean shower cap or a large tea towel. Let the dough rise until it has doubled (this usually takes about an hour, depending on the warmth of your kitchen).
- Lightly punch down the dough and turn it out onto your mat or counter top.
- Do your final shaping and set aside to proof for the second time.
- Preheat the oven to 200 C.
- Bake for 30-40 minutes, or as required, until cooked through.
- Tap to check if your bread sounds hollow.
- Brush with butter (optional).
Variations:
Leave out the milk and use all water to make it vegan.
Or use plant based milk instead of dairy.
Purée spinach for a green version.
Purée carrots or butternut squash for an orange version.
Red bell peppers will make a delicious variation.
Come up with your own fun combinations and variations and share them with me. (Unless you make an eggplant purée bread. That I’ll pass. Thank you!)
Let’s make bread together!
