This week's bread baking was all about challah. Friday nights always centered around challah and chicken soup. After two weeks, I finally corrected my original errors and created a really crispy crust and moist crumb. Great smell of yeast and honey.
Adapted this from Peter Reinhart's - Artisan Breads Every Day
This recipe makes one loaf:
- 205 g warm (95 deg) water
- 7 g instant yeast
- 85 g egg yolks (about 5 eggs depending on size)
- 35 g canola or vegetable oil
- 30 g honey (a little more if you like it sweeter)
- 10 g vanilla
- 482 g bread flour
- 12 g kosher salt
- egg wash (1 whole egg and 2 tbl water)
- poppy seeds or sesame seeds or both or none if you prefer
- Mix the yeast and warm water till it dissolves in your mixer bowl.
- Add the eggs, honey oil and vanilla and mix to beat the eggs with a whisk
- Add the flour and mix with the paddle attachment on 2 for about 2 minutes, then let it autolyze for 15 minutes.
-
Add the salt and attach the dough hook. Mix for 4 minutes on 2. This is where I screwed up last week adding twice the amount of salt. Wound up creating a very dense and salty loaf. Didn't go to waste though. Just took longer to eat.
- Transfer to a counter with either some flour or spray and knead by hand for about 2 minutes. Form into a ball and place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. Should double in size. It weighed about 850 gms.
- Divide into 4 equal parts (fewer or more depending on how many braids you prefer, but I made 4 braids). Flatten each piece and shape into a torpedo like form. Then roll them out to about 10 - 14 inches. (25 - 36 cms.)
- Braid the 4 strands according to the following pattern labeling each strand 1-4 depending where they lie, not where they started:
- 4 over 2
- 1 over 3
- 2 over 3
- etc.
- Place the loaf on some parchment paper. Brush the loaf with the egg wash and let it sit uncovered for an hour
- Brush the loaf again with the egg wash after the hour is up and let it sit for another hour uncovered. Sprinkle with poppy seeds or sesame seeds or both or neither. Crank the oven up to 350 deg (300 convection)
- Place the loaf with the parchment paper on your baking stone and bake for about 15 mins. Rotate and then bake another 20 - 25 mins until you hit about 200 - 205 internal temperature and/or thumping on the bottom sounds hollow.
