This one goes out to keepz, a very kind visitor who left some suggestions for my next bread art experiment. I went with hearts, but to keep it simple I did only one. To me it looks like the bottom half of a strawberry so next time I’m throwing some green on top.
It was pretty simple, roll two red dough rolls, lay one on top of the other, then use a rolling pin to flatten the side. Assemble with some white dough supports and wrap it up to help keep everything from moving around too much. Here are the steps:
Keepz, thanks for taking the time to leave a suggestion, I love getting them!
Recipe: I Heart Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup warm water
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2-1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- red food coloring
Instructions
- Stir the warm water and yeast in the bread machine, wait 5 minutes for it to foam. Then add remaining ingredients (except the coloring). Set on dough setting. (If you don’t have a bread machine, make this like any other bread.. knead the dough, let rise in warm area.)
- Separate into 2 dough balls, one being much smaller. Use an electric mixer with the paddle attachment to knead the red into the small dough.
- Shape your bread! Use the photos above to help. You will need a rolling pin, and pizza cutter or chopper if you have it. Place into a greased 9×5″ bread loaf pan. Cover with a towel. Let it rise for 30 minutes.
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Slice and Enjoy. Store in a ziploc bag to retain freshness or it will get hard over night.
Preparation time: 1 hour(s) 40 minute(s)
Cooking time: 30 minute(s)
Number of servings (yield): 12
This is beautiful! So simple! Have you posted somewhere what kind of food coloring you use? It’s so bright!
Hi Brooke! Once I did.. its a food coloring gel that my mom bought from a cake supply store in Niagara Falls and I can’t find it anywhere else. You can use a gel, thats the best, but any coloring will work. Natural colorings are available in stores and online. I think red is the hardest, its why I choose to do a small heart actually. I was going to call it lonely heart bread for that reason 🙂 But, you know, it just sounded depressing. Hope all is well with you!
Oh, I have loved this bread since you posted it but I’m just getting to it today. I’m not a big V-day person but I’m sure my husband won’t mind a heart-shaped bread slice on his plate tonight. Thanks for the idea, I just love it!
I can’t wait to hear about it and see photos, Genki Kitty!
Hi Sarah, I just wanted to tell you that the recipe worked out great! I did have a little issue with the heart shrinking a bit in the center of the bread but I know it’s totally due to my oven. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe- my husband was so surprised when I asked him to slice the bread for dinner on Valentine’s Day. I did post a photo and put a link to your site for others to see the amazing things you do here on yours at http://genkikitty.wordpress.com/2013/02/19/you-found-my-heart-bread/. I hope you don’t mind me linking to your site.
It looks amazing! You made my day, GK. Thank you so much for the link, your blog is great I’m going to have to try some of those soup recipes. -Sarah