Tri-Colour Plaited Loaf
A delicious loaf that looks amazing when you cut into it, revealing the colours. You can experiment with other natural food dyes like turmeric or beetroot to mix it up!

Ingredients
- 500g bread flour (plus extra for dusting)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp fast action dried yeast
- 300ml warm water
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 50g spinach
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tbsp water
Method
- In a food processor, blitz the spinach until it resembles a paste.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt.
- Pour in the water and olive oil and bring together into a dough.
- Transfer to your worktop and knead a little until it all comes together in a ball.
- Divide the dough equally into 3 (it is best to weigh your dough here to be accurate!)
- To one ball, add the spinach and knead until it is full incorporated and smooth (you may need to add a little flour to stop it getting too sticky as the spinach adds moisture)
- To another ball, add the tomato paste and paprika and knead until fully incorporated and smooth (again, you may need a dusting of flour)
- To the final ball, leave it plain but knead it until smooth.
- Place the 3 balls in oiled bowls and cover. Leave in a warm place for an hour or until doubled in size.
- Punch down the dough and roll each colour into a long even rope around 40cm in length.
- Line each rope next to each other, and starting from the middle, plait the ropes over and under, pinching together at the end, and repeating on the other side.
- Tuck the ends of the rope under the loaf, and transfer to a lined baking tray.
- Cover and leave to rise again for an hour.
- Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 200 C (fan)
- Beat the egg yolk with the tbsp of water, and using a pastry brush, egg wash the loaf, making sure to get in every nook.
- Bake the loaf for 30 minutes until golden and shiny.
- Leave to cool for a few minutes before cutting and serving!
- Enjoy!
Head to my Instagram Highlights @alice.fevronia for a video on how to make this loaf and tag me if you give it a go, I'd love to see!