Challah!
I too made my challah recipe today, so it appears to be a true bake-off. As soon as I began gathering my ingredients I came to the the startling realization that I have not made challah in almost 9 months, probably the longest I have ever gone. Just to differentiate from Gordon, I decided to do mine by hand, a task I have not undertaken since the magical day over five years ago when my KitchenAid stand mixer entered my life. As Gordon pointed out it is traditional at Rosh Hashana to bake your challah in rounds to symbolize the cycle of the year, but I never really mastered the spiral braid so I made some challah rolls as a smaller nod to the holiday.
shana tova! mini-round challah.
My challah recipe for 2 loaves
1 3/4 C warm water
2 packages active dry yeast
pinch of sugar
1/3 C sugar
1/3 C honey
3 tsp salt
1/2 C oil
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
6-7 cups flour—————————-
Egg wash
2 Tb water
2 tsp sugar
1 egg
1 yolk1. stir in yeast, water, and a pinch of sugar. let stand 5 min until yeast is active and bubbly
2. briskly stir in sugar, honey, salt, then add oil, eggs, yolks and 5 C flour.
3. Stir until lightly combined. Let stand 10-20 min to absorb flour.
4. Knead on flat surface until well combined, adding remaining flour to make soft, smooth dough (it should not be too sticky). How much flour you need depends on the humidity of the day.
5. Let dough rest 10 min then flatten
6. Place in greased bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let rise until it is double in size ( about 45-90 min depending on the temperature)
7. Braid into 2 loaves
8. Place on greased baking sheet.
9. Mix ingredients for the egg wash and brush loaf. If you like seeds sprinkle them on the loaf at this point.
10. Let rise 20-30 min
11. Preheat oven to 400
12. Bake 12 min then reduce heat to 350 and bake another 25 min.
It got particularly warm in my kitchen this afternoon due to running the stove and oven for so long, so the yeast went a bit crazy and the loaf is a bit puffier than usual, but still incredibly tasty. Gordon inspired me to do a little tweaking as well, and I figure the best way to make changes is to make it worse for you. This time around I replaced the vegetable oil with shortening (I know, but it was organic and supposedly free of trans-fats). This did take an extra step combining the shortening with the flour before adding to the other liquids, but man did this produce some really soft and fluffy bread. Keep in mind if you are making Challah for the first time that this a process that will get you messy. Don’t be afraid to really get your hands in things, just make sure you wash them first and also keep a dish towel handy for when your friend calls in the middle of it to discuss the day’s stock market surge.
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- all the ingredients ready to go
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- what activated yeast should look like
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- my favorite yolk seperating method
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- flour with shortening incorporated
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- kneading! put some muscle into it!
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- ready to rise
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- post rise
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- 3/6s of dough ready for rolling into ropes
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- ropes pinched and ready for braiding
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- braided loaf awaiting the egg wash
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- roll with egg wash and seeds ready for baking
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- Challah!
Jewish Food in the Hands of Heathens 
Hi Amiee,
I used to help Bubby Sophie make her famous challah every time she came to our house for a weekend. She was famous throughout the family for her delicious bread. When she would make them at our dining room table, there I would be, at her side. She didn’t just make one…she made one for all of the of the members of the extended family.
This was one particular joy I remember vividly. She used no measuring cups, just her rather large Russian hands to scoop up the flour. She would lean over the table and knead, knead, knead, then the kitchen towel covered the mixing bowl with the soon to be delicioius breads.
After the first rising she would punch and turn the dough to get all of the air out, then back under the towel it would go. After the 3rd rising, the dough was ready separate for 3 loaves. Then we would take one hunk of dough to roll into 3 thick long logs. She would connect the dough logs at the top with a pinch of her big thumb. Then right over left, picking up the middle log every other time. She would then place them on a cookie sheet and allow them to rise once more. This of course became my job, and trying to keep those logs from losing their bulky shape was a challenge. Before placing into the oven to bake, she would beat an egg or two until they were golden yellow, and baste each part of the braid.
While cooking in the oven, the aroma of the bread filled our little house. It was such a delicious scent that traveled throughout. No one could keep their hands off of the wonderful Challah as it cooled from the oven, and bits and pieces, corners and sometimes the tops of the braid would disappear. It was a good thing that Bubby always made about six to ten loaves, one for dinner that night, two for the holiday feast, and of course the rest were gifts to the extended family members who came to our home to celebrate.
Thanks for bringing back this memory.
I also used to make many other things with her. Just ask and I will be glad to share with you.
Thanks for sharing the memories Aunt Deb!
You did a beautiful job Amiee. Wish I was there to share your triumph!
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