challah fatta in casa / homemade challah

my six-strand challah

When you cut my challah, the knife cracks the lightly crisp crust, then glides through the soft, sweet-smelling, pale yellow crumb. You don't necessarily need something to go with challah: eaten by itself is quite satisfying.

soft crumb (mollica)

If you pick up my copy of Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day, it will open on page 94 where there is a folded sheet of paper as bookmark. A small cloud of flour will rise from the page, a consequence of its frequent use close to the mixing and kneading area.

I have tried a couple of other recipes for challah, but this one is the best: you can find the recipe on this page. The book has a number of other nice recipes, so you may want to consider getting your own copy.

I don't follow Reihart's recipe to the letter, but I don't stray too much from it. The original makes two large loaves like the one in the photo. I always halve the quantities and make one loaf. I often give half to a friend or I freeze it (wrapped first in plastic then in foil) and we enjoy the other half.

A summary of my adjustments (based on the quantities to make one loaf):

• 15 oz. of King Arthur Flour all-purpose flour + 2 oz. whole-wheat flour (from my grain CSA) instead of 17 oz. of bread flour
• .75 oz. / 20 g olive oil instead of 1.25 oz. vegetable oil
  
• .75 oz. / 20 g agave nectar instead of 1.5 oz.
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I get four egg yolks (tuorli) from making this cake. If they are not 3 oz. total, I break another egg, get as much yolk as I need from it, and use the rest for the glazing. Otherwise, I use a small whole egg for the glazing (diluted with water).

I usually decorate the top with a mix of 2 teaspoons sesame seeds (semi di sesamo) and 1 teaspoon poppy seeds (semi di papavero), but in the case shown in the photos I had just run out of poppy seeds, so I used only sesame.

with sesame seeds

The recipe includes instructions to make a 3-, 4-, 5-, or 6-braid challah. For a while, I made a five-strand one, but now I am into the six-strand one. The braiding is really the best part of making challah, followed by the glazing and decorating. Then, of course, there is the eating part.

One more thing I like about this recipe is that it uses delayed fermentation, so the work of making challah is divided into two parts: first you mix the dough (I do this by hand), then, after at least one night in the fridge, you shape, glaze, ferment, and bake the challah. Finally, you enjoy it, to the last crumb.

And one more thing: this challah is perfect for making French toast. 

I am contributing the challah to the August edition of Bake Your Own Bread hosted by Heather of Girlichef.

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And I am submitting this recipe, bookmarked in Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day, to Bookmarked Recipes #15, an event originally started by Ruth of Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments and now hosted by Jacqueline of Tinned Tomatoes.

This post contains the roundup of the event.

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I contribute my challah also to the 13th installment of the Abbecedario culinario mondiale (World Culinary ABC), an event organized by Trattoria MuVarA that will bring us to visit 27 countries of the world using the alphabet as guide. M like Minneapolis (USA) is hosted by me, Simona of briciole.

 

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Click on the button to hear me pronounce the Italian words mentioned in the post:

challah fatta in casa

or launch the challah fatta in casa audio file [mp3].

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homemade bread, challah, egg yolk

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Comments

[Heather @girlichef]

What a gorgeous loaf of challah, Simona! I am SO impressed by your 6-strand braid - which is something I'm very intimidated to try. I would love to have a loaf hanging around the kitchen for me to rip from all day long. Thank you so much for adding this to the BYOB bread basket this month. :D

[Alicia (foodycat)]

Dazzling. I've just about nailed 4-strand plaited breads but 6 are beyond me!

[Michelle K]

I am awed. This loaf looks perfect and your descriptions of the smells and tastes and sounds are just amazing. Thank you for sharing this with BYOB.

[Simona Carini]

Glad you like it, Heather. I must admit that I still have to follow the instructions when I make it, as the sequence for some reason does not want to stick into my head. I was also intimidated at the beginning, but once I felt comfortable with 5 strands, then the jump to 6 was too tempting.

Alicia, once you feel comfortable with 4, try 5. Reinhart's instructions are pretty clear. Then, once you get comfortable with 5, you go for 6.

My pleasure, Michelle. This is a very nice bread to bake, and people love it.

[Mich - Piece of Cake]

This is a gorgeous loaf of bread. I love the colour and texture. Makes me really tempted to do one myself.

[A Canadian Foodie]

Bread making is a passion of mine. There is nothing like that yeasty goodness in your hand. As Richard Bertinet said in his charming French accent (cooking class I attended in Bath UK) "It is alive! So alive!"
:)
V

[Paz]

your challah looks terrific! makes me want to bake one right now!

[Lori Lynn]

I grew up eating challah but never had homemade. The closest we came was one of my dearest friend's parents owned a Jewish bakery... Yours looks so fabulous, nostalgic.
LL

[Simona Carini]

Thank you, Mich. I think you should yield to the temptation: it's a really nice bread.

Ciao Valerie. Indeed, it is, and different breads have a different feel to them. The dough of this one is supple and soft. Braiding it is fun.

Paz, I know that you bake challah from time to time. Maybe I can tempt you to try Reinhart's recipe and see how it compares with the one you use.

Thanks, Lori Lynn. I can see how a loaf of challah may make you nostalgic. The smell in the bakery must have been delightful.