Multicoloured Sourdough Bread
This multicoloured sourdough bread is so effective and fun to make to bring something different and colourful on the table.
I’ve been experimenting with sourdough bread only for a few months now, but I have to tell you the satisfaction that making your own bread gives, is simply priceless.
I don’t consider myself at all a “Guru” in this field, hence I won’t be giving you the basics on this art, as there are a lot of talented people out there that you can follow and learn from.
The bread I’m about to show you today came from an experiment with red cabbage. I already made natural dyed noodles on my Instagram if you have been following me for a while, and successfully made natural purple and blue (yes, blue) coloured out of indeed purple (or red) cabbage.
I wanted to make a marbled and colourful loaf for a long time now, and here’s myself trying to apply some of my chemistry background to cuisine.
This sourdough consists of 3 different doughs, one kept plain (white) and the other two stained with red cabbage puré: one natural, the other one mixed with a touch of bicarbonate of soda.
It is indeed the reaction between the soda bicarb and the cabbage that makes the mixture turn to blue.
This happens because red cabbage contains a water-soluble pigment called anthocyanin that changes color when it is mixed with an acid or a base. The pigment turns red in acidic environments with a pH less than 7 and the pigment turns bluish-green in alkaline (basic), environments with a pH greater than 7.
But there’s more! Once we combine these three doughs, there are a lot of other variables (like the heat and the vicinity to the other dough mix) that contribute to transform our only three coloured dough into a multicoloured one, that includes shades of green, yellow and brown.
This is briefly how we end up with this easy on the eye loaf just by using the standard bread ingredients (sourdough starter, flour, salt and water) and fresh red cabbage.
The kit I normally use to make bread is available here. On this loaf I also used the flower stencil that you can purchase here.
Let’s see how to make it now!
How to make Multicoloured Sourdough Bread
Ingredients (total):
300 g Bread Flour (White)
100 g Wholemeal Flour
100 g Sourdough Starter
10 g Salt
1/4 Red Cabbage
Water (approx 400 g)*
…for each dough mix….
White:
100 g Bread Flour (White)
85 g Water
40 g Wholemeal Flour
33 g Sourdough Starter
3.5 g Salt
Purple:
100 g Bread Flour (White)
100 g Red Cabbage Puré*
40 g Wholemeal Flour
33 g Sourdough Starter
3.5 g Salt
Blue:
100 g Bread Flour (White)
100 g Red Cabbage Puré*
40 g Wholemeal Flour
33 g Sourdough Starter
3.5 g Salt
3 g Soda Bicarbonate
*For the Red Cabbage Puré: finely slice 1/4 cabbage head, transfer to a small sauce pan and cover with 250/300 grams of water. Boil out for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool completely at room temperature and blend to smooth.
Method:
1. Make the Red Cabbage Puré by finely slicing around 1/4 cabbage head, transfer to a small sauce pan and cover with 250/300 grams of water. Bring to boil and for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool completely at room temperature and blend to smooth.
2. Prepare 3 bowls. Measure the water, the starter and salt in one of them. Stir roughly to loosen a bit the sourdough, then add the flours. Combine to form a rough dough. Cover with a cloth and place in a warm area to ferment (between 23 to 26°C – 73 to 79° F). This will be the white/plain one.
4. Add the starter, the salt and purple cabbage puré to the second bowl. Mix roughly, add the flours and combine once again into a dough. If it feels too dry add a bit of water or more puré 1/2 tbsp at a time.
5. In a small glass or pot combine the 100 grams of puré with the bicarbonate of soda. Stir well and you’ll notice it will turn deep blue. If you want it more intense add a pinch of soda more, but try not to exceed as it will make the bread too bitter.
6. As per the purple dough stir the salt, the starter and the blue puré first, then mix into the flours (+ some more water, if needed) until you are happy with the dough.
7. Leave the three doughs to ferment for 30 minutes.
8. After 30 minutes, grab a corner of the dough and pull it up and into the center. Repeat until you’ve performed this series of folds 4 to 5 times with the dough. Do this for each dough.
9. Repeat the folding step for 4-5 more times every half an hour or so (It will take 2-3 hours in total).
10. Lamination. Lightly spread the plain dough into a rectangle. Place on top of it the blue (or purple) dough and spread it roughly to the same size. Repeat the process with the remaining dough.
11. Carefully (and patiently) start pulling the corners and sides of the stacked doughs to a thin(-ish) sheet, then fold into a letter shape (fold the first side lengthwise to 2/3 of the surface, and overlap the other side on top).
12. Fold a portion of the dough 3-4 more times over itself from the short side, until you reach the end, then cover with a cloth or bowl and let it rest for an extra 30-40 minutes.
13. Shape the bread and transfer to the fridge overnight or for at least 12 hours.
14. To bake. Preheat the oven between 240 and 250°C (470°F). Take the bread out from the fridge seconds before baking it, score and place in a hot Dutch oven.
15. Cook for 20 minutes with the lid of the Dutch oven on, and another 20-25 minutes uncovered.
14. Allow the bread to cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting it and…enjoying!
If you are interested in another funny bread recipe try these Turtle Brioche Bread Buns.
For other bread recipes or baked goods I recommend the followings:
– Homemade Speedy Pizza
– Fluffy Courgette Stuffed Brioche Bread
– Easy Homemade Pitta Bread
– Ratatouille Pizza Bites
– Quarantine Vegan Croissants (not the classic recipe)
– Vegan Casatiello – Italian Stuffed Bread
– Pull Apart Stuffed Brioche Bread
– Homemade Naans
– Mediterranean Empanadas
– Classic Focaccia Barese
– Taralli Pugliesi