Beetroot & Chocolate Swirl Bread

Pretty and pillowy soft, this tri-coloured braided bread brings together the delicious combination of beetroot and chocolate!

There are 3 doughs in this recipe – a pink beetroot dough, a chocolate beetroot dough and a white dough. Try it and you’ll fall in love with this delightfully fun and wholesome bake!

What you’ll need:

Starter Dough

  • 50g flour
  • 40ml water (above 90 deg C/190 deg F)

White Dough

  • 150ml milk (room temperature) 
  • 15g sugar
  • 3g dried instant yeast 
  • 10g unsalted butter (softened)
  • 200g bread flour 
  • 5g salt

Pink Beetroot Dough

  • 150ml beetroot juice (room temperature) + 1-2 tbsps lemon juice or vinegar
  • 30g sugar
  • 3g dried instant yeast
  • 10g unsalted butter (softened)
  • 200g bread flour
  • 5g salt

Chocolate Beetroot Dough

  • 150ml beetroot juice (room temperature)
  • 2 tbsps high quality cocoa powder
  • 15g sugar
  • 3g dried instant yeast
  • 10g unsalted butter (softened)
  • 200g bread flour
  • 5g salt

How to make it:

Starter Dough

  1. Combine starter dough ingredients together and mix well. Leave in fridge overnight.
  2. Divide into 3 portions on day of baking.

White Bread Dough

  1. Dissolve sugar in warm milk then stir in the yeast. Rest for 10 mins until mixture becomes foamy.
  2. Add the mixture, bread flour, salt and 1 portion of starter dough into a stand mixer bowl.
  3. Attach the kneading hook onto the stand mixer and combine all ingredients on low speed 1.
  4. When all ingredients are combined, turn the speed up to 5 or 6 and knead the dough for 20 minutes, until smooth.
  5. Roll the dough into a ball and place it into a greased bowl.
  6. Cover with a damp cloth and allow to rise for about 45 min to 1 hour at about 86°F(30°C) or until doubled the size.

Pink Beetroot Dough

  1. While the white dough is resting, make the pink beetroot dough using the same steps for the white dough above. Ensure the beetroot juice + lemon juice mixture is at room temperature before mixing with the sugar and yeast in step 1. Once this is done, rest the dough for about 45 minutes to 1 hour or until doubled in size.

Chocolate Beetroot Dough

  1. Repeat the above with the chocolate beetroot dough.

Combining the Three Doughs

  1. Punch the doughs down. Using a rolling pin, roll out to form separate rectangles of similar sizes.
  2. Stack the doughs on one another, then roll them together.
  3. Shape and braid the combined dough into your preferred size/shape.
  4. Place on baking tray. Cover with a wet cloth and stand for 30 minutes.
  5. Bake in a preheated oven at 365 °F/ 185°C for 15 to 18 minutes.
  6. To check if the bread is fully cooked, tap the bottom to see if it makes a hollow sound.
  7. Once completely cooked, remove bread from oven and cool it down on a rack.

Notes:

  • The addition of lemon juice or vinegar to beetroot juice will help ensure the colour of beetroot is retained during the baking process.
  • Never mix salt into the yeast mixture as salt slows down yeast fermentation.