Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups (485g) + 3 tbs Bread flour
• 2 tsp instant/dry yeast
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp honey
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup lukewarm milk
• 50g unsalted butter(room temperature)
• Pink food colour
• Red food colour
• 4 1/2 tsp water(for mixing the colours)

Method

Take 1 cup of lukewarm milk in a cup. Add one egg, 2 tsp yeast and 2 tbsp honey. Mix well. Let it rest for 5 minutes(to activate the yeast).

Take 3 1/2 cups bread flour in a large bowl. Add 3/4 tsp salt. Mix well.

Pour the yeast mix into the dry mixture. Mix well with a spatula until the dough comes together.

Cover and rest for 10 minutes.

Add 50g of softened butter to the dough. Mix until the butter is incorporated into the dough.

Stretch and knead the dough for 10 minutes until the dough is soft and smooth. You can add 1-2 tbsp flour if the dough is sticky. (The dough should bounce back if you press it with your finger.)

Place in a bowl. Apply some butter/oil on top of the dough.

Cover and allow to proof for an hour or until it is doubled in volume.

Degas the dough and divide the dough into 4 equal portions.

Take one and keep the rest covered.

Add few drops of pink food colour(to get a light pink shade) and 1 1/2 tsp of water in a bowl. (I use gel colour for the same.) Mix with a spoon.

Mix this with one portion of the dough. Work with your hands until the colour is mixed well with the dough. Add more colour if required. Dust some flour to avoid sticking if required. Keep it covered.

Take the 2nd portion and repeat the same process with more colour to get a slightly darker shade of pink.

For the 3rd portion, repeat the same process with red colour for even more darker shade.

The 4th portion should be the plain one.

Start rolling each dough into a rectangle.

Place the rolled dough on top of each other starting with the darkest one.

Roll it again gently. Roll into a cylinder. Pinch the ends.

Cut the dough in half lengthwise. Trim off the ends. Twist the halves together, keeping the cut side facing up. Press and tuck the ends to seal it.

Place in greased and lined loaf tin.

Cover and proof for 30 minutes. Apply the egg wash.

Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C for 35-40 mins or until the top is golden brown or the skewer inserted comes out clean.

Apply some butter on top immediately after out from oven.

Allow to cool completely before slicing.

Notes

You can use plain flour if bread flour is not available. I would suggest adding 1/2 tsp baking soda and a tsp of lemon juice if you are using plain flour.

You can use 2 tbsp sugar instead of honey.

Adding egg is completely optional if you are looking for an eggless version.

You can use natural food colours like beet juice instead of artificial food colour. But you might have to add more flour to adjust the dough consistency.