Painted Heart Sourdough Bread w/ Natural Food Coloring

Using my basic sourdough bread recipe and natural colors to create a beautiful Valentines day loaf of sourdough bread.

Painted Heart Sourdough Bread w/ Natural Food Coloring

Making a Valentines Day themed Sourdough loaf

I make several loafs of sourdough each week for my family.  Often times I keep it simple with basic scoring but I recently came across the new idea of dying and painting sourdough and had to give it a try.  First I made my basic sourdough recipe.  Then I put my artistic skills to the test and used my bread lame (the tool used to score the bread) to create a heart shape on the surface of the dough.  After the loaf of bread was baked and cooled, I made natural food coloring using freeze dried raspberry powder mixed with a little water.  I used this simple mixture to paint the heart a beautiful red color.  I love how this simple added step turned my basic loaf of sourdough bread into a work of art.

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Watch this video to see behind the scenes of making my Valentine’s Day themed painted heart sourdough bread with natural food coloring

Are you new to sourdough?  I first learned about it six years ago and made my first starter when we bought our house in January of 2019.  I’ve learned a lot about it’s benefits from research but it’s been through my years of experience that I’ve learned how simple it can be to cook and bake with sourdough.  It doesn’t have to be as complicated and precise as it can seem!

What is Sourdough?

Sourdough isn’t just a new trend going around on social media.  While it has gained quite a bit of attention over the last few years it is actually the most traditional way to make bread.  Instant yeast wasn’t readily available so families would use sourdough starters that were passed down from generation to generation to make delicious and healthy loaves of bread.  Sourdough starter is simply a naturally fermented mixture of flour and water that uses naturally occurring yeast to allow bread dough to rise.  This results in baked goods that are full of nutrition and easier to digest.

Why make sourdough?

Making sourdough has several benefits.  Not only does it allow us to make food that is more nutritious and less processed, but it is also much easier for our bodies to digest.  This is because the naturally occurring beneficial bacteria and yeast will work together to start the breakdown of starches found in grain.  This fermentation process prior to baking and consuming the bread helps to break down the protein gluten and increase the lactic acid.  So not only does sourdough bread contain more vitamins and minerals, but the fermentation process makes them more easily accessible when consumed.  To make sourdough you can use all purpose flour, bread flour, whole wheat flour, rye flour, and/or other hearty grains like einkorn.

The basic steps in making sourdough

Sourdough is a long process from start to finish but it is very simple and most of the time is hands off.  I like to mix my ingredients the night before and let the dough ferment on the counter overnight.  In the morning I will “stretch and fold” it two to three times, each 30 minutes to an hour apart.  This is the part that originally intimidated me, however after making sourdough for the last several years I’ve learned there is a lot of flexibility in all of these steps.  I’ve forgotten about my dough, had to leave for an appointment, and even put the dough in the fridge to finish another day.  I’ve greatly extended the recommended time in every step of the process and it has never resulted in a loaf of bread that my family didn’t want to eat. Variations in time, temperature, and how much the dough was worked may impact how much sour flavor the dough takes on or dense it turns out.

What to do with dense sourdough bread

If a loaf doesn’t turn out the way you like, simply cut it into thin slices, dehydrate them at a low temperature until dry, put them into a food processor, and turn them into breadcrumbs.  Making sourdough can be simple and doesn’t require any waste.

How to dye and paint sourdough bread?

Dying and painting sourdough bread is new to me, but again it is simple!  Edible gel food coloring can be used to paint bread however I prefer to use organic freeze dried foods to make natural food colors and color bread.  These can be mixed into the ingredients when making bread to dye the loaf of bread itself, or used to make a paste that can be used as paint.  Several different colors can be made using natural ingredients.

How to make homemade food colors

Homemade food colors are easy to make using natural ingredients.  Just mix a powdered form of naturally colored food with a small amount of water until it reaches the consistency you are looking for.  Then use a clean paintbrush to paint the water mixture onto your bread.

Natural foods to make food dye, food coloring, and food paint:

Red hue/ Pink color: Raspberry, strawberry, cherry, or beetroot powder

Yellow color: Turmeric powder

Orange color: Carrot powder

Blue color:  Red cabbage powder

Purple color: Blueberry, blackberry, or purple sweet potato powder

Green color: Matcha or green tea powder

Brown color: Cocoa powder or freeze dried/ instant coffee

Black color: Black cocoa powder

Tip for dying sourdough bread

If you want to dye the whole loaf of sourdough I recommend mixing the natural powdered coloring in with the dry ingredients before mixing them into the wet ingredients.  This makes it easier to evenly and thoroughly incorporate the color into the dough.

Dying focaccia bread

If you are familiar with sourdough then you’ve probably come across the focaccia bread trend as well.  You know, the perfectly bubbled sourdough focaccia decorated with various edible fruits, vegetables, and flowers in a way to create a beautiful picture.  Who wouldn’t want a tasty piece of bread with all the added flavors of the beautiful toppings.  The only thing that could elevate decorated focaccia to the next level would be dying the dough.  I look forward to trying this soon!

Painted Sourdough Bread Ideas

Making colorful bread is a good way to turn an ordinary loaf of bread into something that is both beautiful and special.  There are so many different ways to create unique loaves of bread.  I look forward to trying other beautiful colors and patterns.  I’m especially excited to attempt floral designs and hand-painted flowers. Dying and painting bread can be a fun hobby that allows you to exercise your creative talents while also feeding your family whole nutritious food.

Thank you for stopping by the blog today and everyday.  I hope this post inspires you in some way and if nothing else demonstrates that bread making can be both simple and beautiful.  Have you tried painting bread yet?  Let me know in the comments and what you want to see me try next!