Rye and Roses – Painted Bread with Decorative Roses

I first saw Painted Bread when I was around 12 years old and living in Cuyahoga Falls, OH. There was a wonderful bakery in Akron and I think it was around Easter they would make decorated bread and it was painted in pastel colors. I called my Mom and she thinks it was was either a Polish or Slavic/Ukrainian bakery but she just can’t be sure. But painting bread has been on my agenda for a l.o.n.g time.

The first time I saw painted bread on the internet was a few years ago when I found Stephanie’s blog, Chef Tess Bakeresse which has wonderful photos. And she recommends the book “Special and Decorative Breads” by A. Couet and E. Kayser which is far beyond my price range but I can get it through inter-library loan and I hope I get it soon!

And then last week I found a wonderful video, embedded below, on making bread dough roses and I was off and running. I don’t think I need to tell you how much I enjoyed making the Rye and Roses Bread. It was a blast and so easy and with just a few tools and an hour of time, you too can easily make this bread or one similar.

And wouldn’t this be just perfect for an Easter Brunch!

Easy Rye Bread
Recipe developed by BigBlackDog

Barm:
1 c. flour
3/4 c. buttermilk or you can use plain milk or water
2 tsp yeast or 1/2 oz fresh yeast
2 tsp honey

Bread dough:
1 c. flour
1 c. rye flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 c. water

Egg Wash:
1 egg
2-3 drops of water

2 tsp olive oil, to oil the proofing bowl

Option:
Caraway Seeds

To make the Barm:
Dissolve yeast in 3/4 c. buttermilk and honey. Add 1 c. flour and thoroughly mix with a fork until smooth. Yeast loves air so the more you mix the barm, the more air and the better the rise of your barm. Cover and set aside until it gets all bubbly on the top, maybe an hour or so. Barm can be refrigerated for 1-2 days, but it must be room temperature when you add it to the dough.

To make the bread dough:
1. In the bowl of your KA mixer fitted with a dough hook, add 1 c. flour, rye flour and salt. If you are using caraway seeds, add them at this time. Mix on low for about a 1 minute until flours and salt are completely incorporated.
2. Add all the Barm and mix. Dough should be dry and shaggy looking.
3. With the mixer running on low, take a 1/2 c. measure of warm water, gradually add water just until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and wraps around the dough hook. If you do not use all the 1/2 c. water that’s fine. Please see below **NOTE**.
4. Dough should be somewhat sticky but not too wet to easily handle. If the dough is too sticky, just add a TBL of flour and mix for a minute or 2 until completely incorporated.
5. In a large bowl or proofing bucket add the 2 tsp olive oil. Dip a paper towel into the oil and carefully wipe all sides of the bowl or bucket.
6. Form the dough into a small ball. Take the ball of dough and place it in the bowl and then flip it over so that all sides are oiled.
7. Cover and let rise until doubled about 1-2 hours.
8. When dough has doubled, remove and place on a floured surface. Pat down into a rectangle about 12″ by 9″. On the long side, start rolling up the dough. Pinch together and fold in the ends. Then pinch together the long seam.
9. Place the loaf, seam side down, on a parchment lined baking sheet. Cover with a light towel or plastic wrap sprayed with Pam. Let rise until doubled.
10. When dough is ready to bake, whip egg with water and lightly brush entire loaf. Slash bread at even intervals. If you are painting the bread DO NOT discard the egg wash.
11. If your making the decorative roses, please see step-by-step or video below.
12. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes or until internal temperature of bread is between 203-207 degrees and bread is golden brown.
13. Remove to a cooling rack and completely cool before slicing.

**NOTE:  Different brands of flour absorb water at different rates, so it’s impossible to say just how much water is necessary to arrive at the correct consistency. 

Decorative Bread Shapes:

Dough:
1 cup flour
1/2 c. water
Pinch of salt

Mix together flour, water and salt. Knead for a few minutes to thoroughly mix the dough. Form a smooth ball and let rest for about 10 minutes. On a floured surface roll out dough as thin as you can at least 1/8″-16″ thick. While rolling, if the dough springs back, just let it rest a minute or two and roll it again.

To make the Roses:
1. Using a 1 1/2″ biscuit cutter or something similar, cut 9 to 13 disks.
2. Line up dough disks slightly overlapping each one.

3. Carefully roll up disks, making sure to not put any pressure on the edges. Gently press in the center of the roll to adhere the disks.

4. Cut the rose roll in two.

5. Pinch the bottom together of each rose and this helps spread and separate the petals. But we careful to make the bottom as flat as possible so it easily adheres to the loaf.

6. Brush some egg wash on the bottom of each rose, careful to avoid getting any egg wash on the rose itself. Place rose on the bread and gently press to secure.

Decorative Leaves:
1. Using a cookie cutter or you can cut them freehand, cut out leaf shapes.
2. I stretched the leaves a bit to make them resemble a rose leaf.

3. Brush egg wash on the back of each leaf and place on unbaked loaf. Gently press to secure. Do not brush egg wash on the front of the leaf.

Decorative Bread Painting:

Egg Wash, 1 egg, 1-2 drops of water whipped together or use leftover egg wash from glazing your bread
Food coloring (I used red and green)

Equipment:
Small prep bowls
Small soft artist paint brush

1. Decide what colors you are going to use for the roses and leaves.
2. Take the reminder of the egg wash from glazing your bread or make a new wash and divide it up in small bowls, one bowl per color.
3. Dip a toothpick into food coloring and mix it into the egg wash. Make sure you thoroughly mix the color. If you need to add more food coloring, do so with a toothpick. Do not pour food coloring into the egg wash.
4. After the bread is baked and it is still warm, with a small paintbrush, lightly brush each rose and leaf with the egg wash color. If you need it darker just brush it again until it is the shade you want.

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Tagged as: Barm, Easter, Food Coloring, Painted, Rye Bread, Tattooed