Look at this mouthwatering loaf! Awesome texture, amazing taste, and it use real fresh watermelon! And the addition of chocolates is a fun imitation of watermelon seeds. When is a watermelon not a watermelon? When it's a loaf of bread! One food trend has people disguising an otherwise normal baked good as a tasty, juicy fruit that's complete with rinds and seeds. Known appropriately as watermelon bread, it first caught on at Jimmy's Bakery in Jiahosi, Taiwan. It quickly inspired a trend, and other iterations of these unique loaves started popping up around the world. One of the most charming characteristics of watermelon bread is its dedication to the fruit illusion. The crust is green and, in some recipes, has the dark swirling pattern that's typically seen on the rind. Once you slice the loaf, it's as if you're cutting into the watermelon itself. The pinkish-red insides are complete with dark "seeds" made of either raisins or dyed dough. For the rind and flesh, the traditional approach to colouring includes green tea and strawberries. (But if that's too time-consuming, other people go for red and green food colouring.)
Watermelon/unsplash.com
It is believed that the earliest bread was baked in Egypt, in the Middle East, around 8000 BC. Querns were the first grinding tools known to man. As a result of crushing grain, bakers produced what we now call chapatis (India) or tortillas (Mexico).
Ingredients
1. Bread Starter
2. Two tablespoons plus two teaspoons of bread flour
3. One-fourth cup of whole milk
4. One-fourth cup water
5. Bread Dough
6. Two and a half cups of bread flour
7. One-fourth cup sugar
8. One packet of active dry yeast
9. One teaspoon salt
10. One egg
11. Half a cup of warm whole milk
12. Four tablespoons of unsalted butter at room temperature
13. Red food colouring
14. Two tablespoons of fresh watermelon juice
15. Light green food colouring
16. Dark green food colouring
17. Black food colouring
18. One and half a cups dark chocolate chips
Steps
Bread Starter
1. A small saucepan should be used to whisk flour, milk, and water together.
2. The mixture should be thickened after a few minutes of simmering, whisking continuously.
3. Set aside to cool slightly in a small heatproof bowl covered with plastic wrap.
Bread Dough
1. A large bowl should be filled with flour, sugar, yeast, and salt. Mix well.
2. After the starter mix has cooled, add the egg, milk, and starter mix.
3. Keep kneading until the mixture comes together, then continue for a few more minutes.
4. Knead the dough for another 10 to 15 minutes until it becomes uniformly smooth and springy.
5. The dough should be divided into four parts, one of which should be slightly larger than the others.
6. Roll the larger portion of the watermelon into a smooth ball, add the watermelon juice and chocolate chips, and place it in a buttered dish.
7. Wrap in plastic wrap.
8. Cover a buttered bowl with plastic wrap after forming one of the remaining three doughs into a smooth ball.
9. A light green colour should be added to another of the remaining dough balls.
10. Roll the dough into a smooth ball, place it in a buttered bowl, and then cover it with plastic wrap.
11. The final piece of dough should be greenish-black in colour.
12. Place the dough in a buttered bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
13. Cover all four doughs and allow them to rise for 50 minutes to an hour until they have doubled in size.
14. Make a Pullman loaf pan by buttering a nine by 5-inch pan.
15. Remove each dough ball from its bowl one at a time and punch it down after it has doubled.
16. To keep the dough moist, divide each ball of dough into seven equal parts and form them into smooth balls.
17. Shape the red dough into a log almost as long as the loaf pan.
18. The untinted dough should be rolled out and wrapped around the red dough. Then, placing plastic wrap over the container, set it aside.
19. The dark green dough should be rolled out and cut into zigzag strips.
20. Place the strips over the light green dough after rolling out the dough.
21. They should be rolled out slightly to incorporate them both. Make sure the dough strips follow the length of the loaf pan as you wrap it around the watermelon centre log.
22. The dough should be placed in a greased loaf pan, and the top should be sealed.
23. Wait for 40 to 50 minutes for the dough to rise. Bake at 350 degrees for half an hour after proofing.
24. Once the dough has risen again, place it in the oven and bake it for 35 to 40 minutes.
You can slice and serve the loaf after it has cooled in the pan for about 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack and let it cool for at least one hour before cutting and serving.
