fairy bread – Shannon Kay

As soon as I found out about fairy bread, I was scheming about how to make it far more complicated more fun. Fortunately for me, my cousin’s second birthday was approaching.

The idea of fairy bread is simple and clever, and of course I would make some with my homemade bread. But why stop there? Why not make a special bread, a whole fairy bread loaf? The idea ruminated in my mind and as I tried to fall asleep the night before I planned to make the dough, the modifications were complete in my mind.

Fairy Princess Bread

So named because it’s not just bread for fairies, it’s not just bread for princesses, it’s bread for a princess of the fairies. Alternately, it could be the bread that fairies make for princesses.

Adapted from Soft American-Style White Bread recipe from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day.

3 cups lukewarm water
1.5 tablespoons granulated yeast (2 packets)
1.5 tablespoons Kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar (I actually forgot the sugar, so you can safely leave it out if you like)
.5 cups butter, melted, plus extra for brushing on the crust
7 cups all-purpose flour (1-2 cups could be switched out for whole wheat flour)
.5 tsp almond extract (you could up this to a full teaspoon)
4-5 medium strawberries, pureed or mashed
20 drops neon pink food coloring (you could use red, but the drops may not be the same)
1 tsp honey
Neutral-tasting oil, Pam, or butter for greasing the pan

Note: This recipe makes about twice the amount of dough you’ll need for the four mini loaves I show. My extra dough is currently sitting in the fridge(it’ll keep happily there for 7 days), and I plan to divide it in 2-4 pieces and put them in the freezer for future use. You can do the same, make more bread, or halve the recipe.

Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, and melted butter in your stand mixer bowl, a 5-quart bowl, or a lidded food container. Add the strawberries, almond extract, and 20 drops neon pink food coloring. Stir so that color is distributed.
Mix in the flour without kneading. I stirred a bit with a fork first, scraping the sides and turning the flour over to make sure the liquid was evenly distributing it’s color onto the flour, then used the dough hook on my stand mixer. You can also use a spoon or your hands to mix the dough the rest of the way.
Cover loosely and allow to rest about two hours. I use a tea towel or cloth napkin and just put it over my mixing bowl, leaving it right on the stand mixer. If you used a lidded container, set the lid on loosely so it’s not airtight(unless your container has holes because it’s for bread).

Seriously, this was my most tall rising bread ever.
To make mini loaves, grease your loaf pans. Using wet or floured hands(I used wet hands here), take about a handful of dough and shape it into a ball to put in a mini loaf pan. The dough should fill the pan a little more than halfway full.
Slash the top of the loaf. Let the dough rest for 40 minutes (1 hour and 40 minutes if the dough was refrigerated).
Preheat oven to 350°F. Melt 1TB butter(I microwaved in a coffee cup for 15 seconds) and mix in 1 tsp honey. Brush the tops of the loaves with the honey butter and top with sprinkles.
Bake for 30 minutes, turning halfway through. I put them on a baking sheet to make it easier. Larger or smaller loaves may need adjustments in cooking time.
Turn them out of the loaf pans right away and let them cool on a rack or on their sides so the bottom doesn’t get soggy.

I tried out a few different things on the bread. Cream cheese, peanut butter, and butter(all with some sprinkles of course). They were all really good.

You could also try jam, cream cheese and fruit, or make little sandwiches. Another variation would be to bake the bread in muffin tins or mini muffin tins to make individual fairy bread loaves.

I ended up serving it the traditional fairy bread way; butter and sprinkles.

I think Chloe might enjoy the bread more when there’s not a party going on! Extra loaves can be frozen whole and reheated in the oven, or frozen in slices and toasted. I imagine Chloe has some pink fairy sandwiches in her future!