Challah that's pretty and easy? Sign me up!
The last couple of weeks Drew and I have been making an effort to have a nice dinner on Friday night. This week we weren't sure what we'd eat, but he asked me to make challah anyway. So Thursday night after dinner I started the challah. My current favorite recipe is the Czernowitzer Challah from A Blessing of Bread. It's very easy to mix up -- no power tools required. Unfortunately it starts with a 2+ hour rise, and it was pushing 8pm when I finally got it going. My Thursday night Facebook status was "Waiting for the challah to rise so I can go to bed". Eventually I gave up and just threw the bowl in the fridge overnight.
Friday morning the dough had risen nicely but I was a little concerned about it over-rising through the day. Neither of us had time to wait for the dough to warm and bake, though, so we went for it. Drew shaped the challah while I was in the shower -- a 4 strand braid that looks complicated but is as easy as a 3 strand. He covered it with a damp tea towel and put it in the booze cellar for the day. When I got home at 5:15 the dough was in nice shape -- not over-risen at all! I put my egg wash on and baked it.
And here's how it turned out!
From Blog photos
From Blog photosBeautiful, easy, and it fit into my usual schedule! I am a very happy camper.
Friday morning the dough had risen nicely but I was a little concerned about it over-rising through the day. Neither of us had time to wait for the dough to warm and bake, though, so we went for it. Drew shaped the challah while I was in the shower -- a 4 strand braid that looks complicated but is as easy as a 3 strand. He covered it with a damp tea towel and put it in the booze cellar for the day. When I got home at 5:15 the dough was in nice shape -- not over-risen at all! I put my egg wash on and baked it.
And here's how it turned out!
From Blog photos
From Blog photosBeautiful, easy, and it fit into my usual schedule! I am a very happy camper.