When living in the East Village neighbourhood of Manhattan all those years ago, I loved popping into the wonderful Eastern European bakeries nearby for a bagel, bialy, babka, dark rye, and challah. Though it is not impossible to find challah in our small city, its distant relative, brioche, though much lighter in texture because of loads of butter, often substitutes. Since my baking bialys a la Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook turned out well, I used their recipe for challah. Well that is not true, even if those bialys didn't come out as fantastic as they did, I would still have opted for that book as I appreciate any opportunity to hold that beauty in my hands, flipping through all the wondrous recipes, photos, and stories. Challah is made from yeasted dough that has been enriched with honey, eggs, and oil (making it parve, that is, neutral, neither meat or dairy). My returning to baking bread after a long hiatus meant the yeast languishing in our cupboard was not too fresh. The texture, therefore, was closer to a denser babka, then challah. Subbing maple syrup for honey gave an uplift in taste and adding raisins increased the contrast between salty and sweet. It was delicious, especially served with hot cinnamon apple cider.
Ingredients
Flour, white, bread or all-purpose, plus more for shaping, 315 g (2.5 American cups, that is, 8 fluid oz cups)
Sugar, white, 2 T plus 2 teaspoons
Salt, kosher, 3 1/4 teaspoons
Yeast, active, dry, 1 1/4 teaspoons
Pâte fermentée (see below), cut into walnut-size pieces
Egg yolks, large, 3
Maple syrup, 2 T
Water, warm, 3 T or more if needed (I used 8 T)
Oil (I used sunflower) plus more for coating the bowl
Eggs, large, beaten, 2
Raisins, Thompson, 150 g/1 cup (American cup, that is, 8 fluid oz)
Pâte fermentée
Water, lukewarm, 8 T plus 1 teaspoon
Yeast, active, dry, 2/3 teaspoon
Flour, white (bread or all-purpose)
Kosher salt, 1 teaspoon
Put water and yeast in a medium-sized mixing bowl and add flour and salt. Stir for a minute or two with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Cover bowl with a plate, a damp, wrung-out tea cloth, or plastic wrap. Let stand for thirty minutes then refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours and a maximum of 24. Therefore make this either the day or the night before you plan to bake the bread.
I prefer to mix and knead yeasted dough by hand so if your preference differs, then use an electric mixer with a dough hook. If you want to learn or refresh manual kneading skills, this video has the basics. My preferred method is the same I used when kneading clay back in the distant past when I was a potter. So if you know that nifty spiral manual technique, it can be transferred to dough. Measure/weigh flour into a large mixing bowl. Make two wells, one for yeast, warm water, and sugar, the other for salt and oil. Mix with a wooden spoon for a minute or two.
Whisk the egg yolks.
Put the maple syrup, yolks, and pâte fermentée into the mixing bowl.
Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls together. Empty contents onto a floured work surface (I used a silicon mat). Knead until mostly smooth.
Flatten out the dough and spread the raisins onto it. Fold dough over and finish kneading.
Let rise in a warm spot, covered with a damp, wrung-out dish cloth, plate, or plastic wrap. Because of my using stale yeast, it took two hours, but it should be closer to one hour.
Flatten out the dough into a rough oblong and start rolling the farther side towards you, pressing down on the juncture between the roll being made and the remaining flat surface of the dough. The aim is to create surface tension which aid in the bread rising well in the oven. Pinch/seal both ends and seam.
Choose a work surface that will accommodate rolling the dough into a rope approximately 90 cm (3 feet) long. Try to get away without flouring the surface as particles of flour drags on the coil flattening it out. If flour is needed to prevent sticking, sprinkle it as sparsely as possible. Place the part of both hands just under the base of fingers, that is, the top of your palm on the centre of the rope, and with a back and forth rolling motion thin and lengthen the dough to the ends as you move each hand farther and farther away from each other. Repeat until you get the desired length.
Using parchment paper, form a turban by curling one end and wrapping the other around that centre curl. Wash with beaten egg, cover with plastic or a damp dish towel, and set in a warm place till doubled. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.
Uncover and coat with beaten egg again. Bake in an oven for around 30 to 40 minutes until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped and a thin knife inserted between the strands come out dry.
I will bake challah again soon with newly bought yeast so as to try to get a lighter crumb. But as it stands, the taste is the best I have ever experienced because the pâte fermentée having a prolonged rising allowed for a minimum of yeast. Less yeast, more flavour.
À la prochaine!
RELATED POSTS
Making bialys a la Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook
My book review of Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook
Ingredients
Flour, white, bread or all-purpose, plus more for shaping, 315 g (2.5 American cups, that is, 8 fluid oz cups)
Sugar, white, 2 T plus 2 teaspoons
Salt, kosher, 3 1/4 teaspoons
Yeast, active, dry, 1 1/4 teaspoons
Pâte fermentée (see below), cut into walnut-size pieces
Egg yolks, large, 3
Maple syrup, 2 T
Water, warm, 3 T or more if needed (I used 8 T)
Oil (I used sunflower) plus more for coating the bowl
Eggs, large, beaten, 2
Raisins, Thompson, 150 g/1 cup (American cup, that is, 8 fluid oz)
Pâte fermentée
Water, lukewarm, 8 T plus 1 teaspoon
Yeast, active, dry, 2/3 teaspoon
Flour, white (bread or all-purpose)
Kosher salt, 1 teaspoon
Put water and yeast in a medium-sized mixing bowl and add flour and salt. Stir for a minute or two with a wooden spoon until a shaggy dough forms. Cover bowl with a plate, a damp, wrung-out tea cloth, or plastic wrap. Let stand for thirty minutes then refrigerate for a minimum of 8 hours and a maximum of 24. Therefore make this either the day or the night before you plan to bake the bread.
I prefer to mix and knead yeasted dough by hand so if your preference differs, then use an electric mixer with a dough hook. If you want to learn or refresh manual kneading skills, this video has the basics. My preferred method is the same I used when kneading clay back in the distant past when I was a potter. So if you know that nifty spiral manual technique, it can be transferred to dough. Measure/weigh flour into a large mixing bowl. Make two wells, one for yeast, warm water, and sugar, the other for salt and oil. Mix with a wooden spoon for a minute or two.
Whisk the egg yolks.
Put the maple syrup, yolks, and pâte fermentée into the mixing bowl.
Stir with a wooden spoon until the dough pulls together. Empty contents onto a floured work surface (I used a silicon mat). Knead until mostly smooth.
Flatten out the dough and spread the raisins onto it. Fold dough over and finish kneading.
Let rise in a warm spot, covered with a damp, wrung-out dish cloth, plate, or plastic wrap. Because of my using stale yeast, it took two hours, but it should be closer to one hour.
Flatten out the dough into a rough oblong and start rolling the farther side towards you, pressing down on the juncture between the roll being made and the remaining flat surface of the dough. The aim is to create surface tension which aid in the bread rising well in the oven. Pinch/seal both ends and seam.
Choose a work surface that will accommodate rolling the dough into a rope approximately 90 cm (3 feet) long. Try to get away without flouring the surface as particles of flour drags on the coil flattening it out. If flour is needed to prevent sticking, sprinkle it as sparsely as possible. Place the part of both hands just under the base of fingers, that is, the top of your palm on the centre of the rope, and with a back and forth rolling motion thin and lengthen the dough to the ends as you move each hand farther and farther away from each other. Repeat until you get the desired length.
Using parchment paper, form a turban by curling one end and wrapping the other around that centre curl. Wash with beaten egg, cover with plastic or a damp dish towel, and set in a warm place till doubled. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C/350 degrees F.
Uncover and coat with beaten egg again. Bake in an oven for around 30 to 40 minutes until the bottom sounds hollow when tapped and a thin knife inserted between the strands come out dry.
I will bake challah again soon with newly bought yeast so as to try to get a lighter crumb. But as it stands, the taste is the best I have ever experienced because the pâte fermentée having a prolonged rising allowed for a minimum of yeast. Less yeast, more flavour.
À la prochaine!
RELATED POSTS
Making bialys a la Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook
My book review of Hot Bread Kitchen Cookbook
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