Rainbow Bagels

First things first, place 200g of flour in a large mixing bowl. Pop the 1tsp of sugar and ½ tsp of salt in one side of the bowl with the flour. Pop 7g (1tsp) of yeast in the other side of the bowl – try not to let the salt and yeast mix until you begin making your bread as the salt will react with the yeast. 

Pour 125ml of warm water into a jug and add 1tsp of Yellow Colour Gel and mix together. 

Mix your dry flour ingredients together and pour in your warm water mixture whilst continuing to mix – this is easiest to do in a freestanding mixer with a dough hook attachment. don’t worry if you do not have a mixer you can do this by hand, you’ll just a little messier! 

Continue to mix your dough on a low speed until it comes together. If the colour of your dough is not bright enough you can add a few more drops of colour gel at this stage. When your dough has all come together turn up the mixer speed and knead for 5-7 minutes until you have a lovely smooth elastic dough. If you are making your dough by hand this is where the work out begins, knead your dough on a lightly floured surface for about 10 minutes. 

Pop your dough in a bowl lightly greased with oil and loosely cover with cling film, leave it to rise for about an hour until it has doubled in size. 

Now repeat the above steps for each colour gel, it is easiest make the orange dough next and then the red as you can use the same bowl and save on washing up! Then make the green dough and finally the blue dough.

Once all of your dough has doubled in size, pop the red dough on a lightly floured surface and briefly knead to knock out the air. Flatten the dough to around 1cm thick and roll into a rectangle shape and place onto a floured board. Repeat with the orange dough and place on top of the red dough, then the yellow, green and top with the blue – wow look at those colours!

Cover the dough with a damp tea towel, this will stop it drying out. Leave the dough for 30 minutes to rest.

Fill a large pan with boiling to about a quarter full and pop on a low heat so it begins to simmer. Tip the Bicarbonate of soda into the pan and stir to mix in. Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C/Gas Mark 6.

Now for the colourful bit, using a sharp knife cut a strip of dough lengthways about 1inch thick. Twist the dough to create a wonderful rainbow swirl and cut in half. Twist one half around your hand and join the ends together – make sure the ends are joined together well otherwise your bagels will loose there shape when boiled. Repeat for the other piece of dough, you have 2 bagels!

Pop the bagels in the simmering water, use a slotted spoon to help and allow to boil for 30 seconds and then flip over to boil the other side for 30 seconds. Pop the bagels on some kitchen roll to remove any excess water.

Repeat steps 10 and 11 with the remaining dough to create all your rainbow bagels.

Cover 3 large baking trays with greaseproof paper and pop your boiled bagels on the trays. Bake your bagels for 15-20 minutes – to check your bagels are bakes tap the base and they should sound hollow when baked. Pop your baked bagels on a wire rack to cool. 

A fun and colourful way to serve your rainbow bagels, slice in half and spread a layer of cream cheese over the bagel and for a sparkling finish sprinkle with the bright and bold sprinkles!