Sunday, June 14, 2009

Challah



Every Friday, almost weekly for about two years, I wake up in the morning and walk, bleary eyed, to the cupboard. I take out the yeast, the sugar, the flour and the eggs. I make myself a cup of coffee, put on an apron, and begin the challa baking process.

To me there is nothing that says Shabbat more than the aroma of freshly baked challot, and there is no more intensely satisfying bread-baking experience.

I'm submitting them to this weeks yeastspotting.

Well, onto the recipe I suppose!
  • 5 c flour
  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 4 1/2 tsp. instant yeast
  • 1 1/2 c warm water (95-105degrees)
  • 2 eggs
  • 4 T margarine, melted
  • 1 egg yolk + 2 tsp water for egg wash
  • Mix together flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl. Form a well. Mix together water, 2 eggs and margarine. Place in the well. Mix thoroughly. Knead until dough is smooth, not sticky.

  • Allow to rise for thirty minutes. Punch down. Let dough rise again. Punch down and form into two large challas. Brush with egg wash. Place on sprayed/lined coookie sheet. Bake in 325 oven for 45-50 minutes.


Notes: I've found that my challa dough is always way stickier in Israel than in Canada- must be a gluten thing. Resist the urge to add too much flour or your challahs will be dry. I like to add a bit less yeast and let the dough rise longer- I think it gets more flavour that way. Also, sometimes I double the recipe so that I can make four large challot- there's no need to use twelve teaspoons of yeast- i would use a lot less than that. I'm sure it will still turn out. Also- I use a mixture of ketsach seeds (nigella/black cumin) and sesame seeds on top. A little unconventional, but makes for pretty challas :)

6 comments:

  1. Challot look great! How did they come out? You can use up to a tbsp of yeast for eight loaves-- of course theyll come out fine. I also think that the stickiness has to do with not enough flour -- flour absorbs moisture differently in the summer and in the winter-- so you might have to compensate for the moisture in Israeli air.

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  2. The only thing better than a Leah challah is two of them.

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  3. Weekly early-morning rituals are such a wonderful thing, especially when they involve baking beautiful bread!

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  4. Love Challah. One of my favorite thing to make for Shabbat!

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  5. Nice looking challah - I like the addition of poppyseeds. We don't add that to ours but maybe we should!

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  6. The challah looks great. Another recipe I have to try! :-)

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