This Saturday: Valentine's Zebra Bread Bake-Along 🌹

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This Saturday we're making something special.

Valentine's Zebra Bread. Pink and white swirl. Soft, pillowy milk bread made with the tangzhong method. Natural color from roasted beetroot. No artificial dye, no specialty ingredients you can't find at your grocery store.

The technique is called lamination. You make one dough, split it in half, color one half pink, then stack and roll them together. Every slice reveals the swirl pattern. It looks like it came from a high-end bakery, but the technique is actually straightforward once you see how it works.

We've got two versions ready in the Recipe Pantry:

Yeasted version: Same-day bake. About 4.5 to 5.5 hours start to finish. Mix in the morning, bake in the afternoon.

Sourdough version: Two-day process. Build your levain Friday night, mix and shape Saturday, bake Saturday evening or cold retard overnight for a fresh Sunday morning loaf.

Both use the same tangzhong base, same lamination technique, same scoring pattern. You pick which one fits your schedule.

Don't have beetroot? No problem. This recipe works with any color contrast:

Cocoa powder for chocolate brown
Pumpkin puree for orange
Matcha for green
Turmeric for golden

The swirl pattern works regardless of color. But for Valentine's Day, that natural pink is hard to beat.

📅 Saturday, February 8 — Bake-Along Day I'll post the working thread Saturday morning. Follow along, post your progress, ask questions as you go. We'll figure it out together.

📅 Friday, February 14 — Show Us Your Swirls Valentine's Day photo drop. Post your finished loaf. Best slice wins bragging rights.

The Recipe: https://pantry.bakinggreatbread.com/recipes/valentines-zebra-bread?utm_source=skool&utm_medium=community&utm_campaign=recipe-share

If you're doing the sourdough version, build your levain Friday night (Feb 7) so it's ready Saturday morning.

If you're doing the yeasted version, you can start fresh Saturday morning. No advance prep needed beyond roasting your beets (which you can do the night before).

Who's in? Drop a 💕 below and tell me which version you're making.

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