Challah also known as hallah or challot is a traditional braided bread eaten during Sabbath and other Jewish holidays. Jewish tradition, Sabbath and holiday meals begin with a blessing over four loaves of bread, two on Friday night and two on Saturday afternoon.
For week five of the Bread Bakers Apprentice Challenge, we made Challah. I love Challah and always look forward to the holiday season, when I can find it in our neighborhood bakery. Now, I am happy to say, I do not have to wait any longer. This challenge was incredibly easy and I have to say I was very impressed with how well I did (I kept yelling to Lenny to come see the “Challah”) and how the bread came out. I started the bread late in the afternoon and by bed time we had fresh baked bread for our breakfast. The recipe was very easy to follow and everything happened just as stated in the recipe, from resting times to baking times. The Challah came out golden in color, light in texture and very flavorful, not too yeasty or eggy, just perfect.
If you would like to see what other Bakers from the BBA Challenge are doing be sure to check out the blogroll, wonderful things are coming out of their ovens! Following you will find some photos I took showing part of the process:
Right before braiding the Challah
Braided Challah
After egg washing the Challah
Besides eating Challah by itself, it is my choice of bread for French Toast as well as bread pudding. It soaks up the egg batter perfectly. The morning after making the Challah we used some of it to make a golden blueberry French toast and saved the rest (as we are traveling) to make bread pudding later on.
Rosa
Tuesday 23rd of June 2009
I love that speciality! Your Challah looks great! I particularly like those French Toasts!
Cheers,
Rosa
Haley J.
Tuesday 23rd of June 2009
I have absolutely loved the challah. Great flavor and texture, beautiful burnished crust. I am contemplating making another batch into sandwich buns and freezing them. I think it would be the perfect sturdy bread for a burger. Enriched with eggs, slighty sweet, so good. Your pictures are wonderful.
Jen
Tuesday 23rd of June 2009
I never was a fan of French toast until I made it with Challah. Now I'm hooked. Yours looks golden delicious! Using it in bread pudding is a fantastic idea too.
Paula - bell'alimento
Tuesday 23rd of June 2009
Your Challah looks beautiful & your pics are simply delicious! This was by far my favorite bread in the #bba! We also made French toast & it was divine!
Chou
Monday 22nd of June 2009
Your braid is beautiful! That's the funnest part of making challah, I think.