Purple cow bread

Step 1

Make the roux starter (tangzhong). In a small pot, combine the flour, milk, and water. Over low heat, whisk until smooth and continue stirring until the whisk leaves a clear track at the bottom of the pot (as if you were making a bechamel).

Step 2

Remove from heat, scrape into a glass measuring cup, and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing down the wrap onto the surfact of the roux to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool.

Step 3

When the roux has cooled, make the doughs, starting with the white to avoid having to clean the mixing bowl in between.

Step 4

In the bowl of a mixer, use the paddle to combine the flour, sugar, and yeast and mix on low speed briefly. Add the salt and mix for about 10 seconds.

Step 5

Add the egg, milk, and 1/2 of the starter (1/2 cup). Mix on low speed. When it comes together, add the butter cubes.

Step 6

When the dough starts to come together, switch to the dough hook. (If the dough doesn't come together, add an additional tbsp of milk at a time). Increase the speed to medium and knead for 10 minutes, adding flour as necessary if the dough sticks to the bottom of the mixer. At the end of kneading, the dough should be soft and tacky but not sticky.

Step 7

Shape the white dough into a ball and place into a buttered bowl. Cover with plastic wrap.

Step 8

Make the purple dough, repeating the above steps with the following additions. Add the purple sweet potato powder with the initial dry ingredients (flour, sugar, and yeast). Add the food coloring during the kneading time, a few drops at a time until you achieve the desired color.

Step 9

As with the white dough, shape the purple dough into a ball, place it into a buttered bowl, and cover it with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise until doubled in size, about 60 minutes.

Step 10

Lightly butter a 13"x4"x4" pullman loaf pan, including the lid.

Step 11

To make a bread with six "patches," divide the white dough relatively equally into six and the purple dough into eight uneven segments. The white dough will be used to wrap the purple dough in uneven ways.

Step 12

Create two large purple patches at each side of the bottom of the bread. Take a purple section and roll it into a long log the length of the pan. Flatten it out using a rolling pin as thin as possible, and then roll it along the long side to make a thin long coiled log. Repeat the same with a second purple section. Take a white segment, roll it into a long log and flatten it like with the purple sections. Now place the two purple logs side by side in the middle of the flattened white log and wrap the white dough around the two purple doughs. Place this large log of dough lengthwise, seam down along one of the corners of the pan. Repeat this with two more purple segments and one more white segment and place that log lengthwise, seam down along the other side of the pan.

Step 13

There should be four segments of each color remaining. Repeat this procedure of taking the purple dough, forming a long log, flattening it, rolling it up in a coil, and wrapping a segment of white dough around it (this time around only one purple segment to make smaller patches). Lay this seam down in the pan and repeat with the remaining segments.

Step 14

Put the lid on the pan and let the dough rise until it is nearly up to the lid.

Step 15

Thirty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 350°F.

Step 16

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the internal temperature is 190°F.

Step 17

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, and then cool on a rack completely before slicing.