Challah

Week 6

This week's host was Jennifer she choose Challah. Recipe on page 113 & 114 of our book.

Doesn't that look so yummy! Who doesn't like bread? I ate three pieces right out of the oven. I have never heard of Challah before but it kinda tastes like a sweeter french bread. It also gives a great presentation. I am not a professional but I think it turned out beautiful. The braid, sesame seeds, and contrast from dark to light in the creases is what gives this bread it's own look.

Now to break down my opinions and obstacles about baking this bread.

The recipe indicated that we needed a stand alone mixer. Of course I don't have one, but it's on my wish list. The alternative methods to replace the stand alone mixer were to use a food processor or hand mix. I don't have a food processor either and the hand mixing method was not very intriguing. As you can see, in the picture above, I decided to try my dough hooks on my electric hand mixer. Lets see. . . that was joke. The problem with this method is part of the dough clung to the hooks, then worked it's way to the top,  stayed there leaving the rest of the dough unmixed, and the other part spinning round and round the dough hooks. Who ever thought of this invention wasn't to brilliant or I am doing something wrong when mixing.

As you can see I had no choice but to revert back to the hand mixing method. It wasn't that bad as expected. In fact it was easy. It suggested to knead the dough for 15-25 minutes till it was smooth and elastic. By 15 minutes or less my dough was smooth and elastic. There you go, don't be intimated by getting your hands in the dough once in a while.

P.S. My two year old took the picture above. Good job eh.

After the dough rises for about a hour and a half or so. You get to braid the dough. Fun! One larger and one smaller. As you can see my larger one is a lot more prettier then the smaller. Thanks Jen for giving us a heads up to not flour the surface very much while rolling your ropes. This dough didn't stick to the counter at all for me, which I am happy about. Also, adding more flour just made the dough more rough until you kneaded it all the way in. To get that great shape you saw earlier you simply place the braids on top of each other.

I really only had one problem. Last week we were told to line the baking dish with foil and I choose not to.  Still don't know if the bubbling of the milk was because I skipped this step or not. This week I wasn't about to skip any steps. The recipe said to line the baking sheet with parchment paper, so I did, as you can see the wax paper stuck to the bottom of the bread. No fun to get off! I think it would of been better if I just greased the baking sheet instead. The thing is I baked the bread for 26 minutes and at that time it was done, maybe a little to done. The recipe said to bake the bread for 30 to 40 minutes, so why at 26 minutes did my bread bottom stick?

It all turned out in the end. The bread was a success as you can see. Ha ha it wasn't gone that fast but it was sure that good. I loved the crunchy outside and soft inside.

A Tip & A Question:

1. Don't let the bread cool for two hours if you want to eat a warm slice out of the oven.
2. What does everyone like to put on their Challah homemade bread?