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Challah Baking with Marla Meyer

Challah Baking with Marla Meyer

January 10th at 6:30pm on Zoom

Learn how to bake delicious challah during an interactive “hands on” presentation with Marla.

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Recipe:

Marla’s Challah

Makes 2 good-sized loaves

 

In large non-metal bowl combine:

1 cup lukewarm water

1/4-1/2 cup honey (depending on desired sweetness).

1 tablespoon (1 envelope) dry yeast, sprinkled on top            

2 eggs

1 and 1/2 cups flour (or 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1 cup flour)

 

 Stir this batter with a spoon, counting to 100.  Cover the bowl with a towel and let the mix form a "sponge" -- about 15-20 minutes. 

 

After “sponge” is formed, add and stir into it:

2 teaspoons salt

2/3 cup safflower or vegetable oil

 

Then add to the mixture:

            4 more cups white flour, (I prefer unbleached) 1/2 cup at a time

            Continue to fold in flour until the dough comes away from the bowl (gluten is developed), or until it forms a single piece.  

Turn dough ball out of bowl onto a clean, floured surface for kneading. 

 

Begin kneading the dough, continually adding flour, until the enlarged dough ball begins feeling “stretchy,” or dough bounces back when you poke a finger into it -- 5-10 minutes.  Place dough ball back into the bowl and drizzle the oil left in the measuring cup over the top.  Cover with a towel, set in a warm place and let rise.  

 

Once the dough has doubled – about 3 hours, Punch down the dough all over, cover and let it rise again, for about an hour. 

 

Now it’s time to “take challah” (Hafrashat Challah.)* Take a small pinch of the dough, about the size of an olive and roll it into a little marble to be cooked crisp alongside the loaves. *This little marble is the actual challah itself, a reminder of the offering of flour prepared in the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. (Look at a box of Matza sometime, and notice the phrase, “Challah has been taken.” That means that a similar marble of flour was separated). Recite the following blessing:

 

Baruch atah adonai, eloheynu melech, ha-olam, asher kidshanu b’mitzvotav v’tzvivanu, l'hafrish challah.  Praised are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has sanctified us by your commandments, and commanded us to separate the challah.”

 

For Two Loaves*: Divide dough in half, then divide each half into thirds.  Roll each  third into long strands, 8-10” each, and after pinching one end together, braid the strands into loaves.  Pinch the end strands together. Tuck under ends if necessary. 

*The custom of having two loaves goes back to the Bible.  When our ancestors were wandering for forty years in the desert, they received a double portion of manna on Erev Shabbat.

 

Let braided loaves rise, 15-30 minutes.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Combine for egg wash:

            1 beaten egg (some people just use yolk)

            ½ tsp sugar (optional)

 

            Paint egg wash on loaves with pastry brush.  If desired, sprinkle poppyseeds or sesame seeds on top.  Bake 40 minutes, until golden brown. 

You can test a loaf by tapping it, and you will hear a hollow sound.

Fri, March 29 2024 19 Adar II 5784