Raisin Challah and Braiding Tips

L'shana Tova Umetukah! A happy and sweet new year!

 

On Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, we eat a lot of round and sweet foods. The round symbolizes the cycle of a year, and the sweet is for your sweet year. One of my favorite traditional dishes is a round raisin challah. I've made challah before, but never attempted a round one. It seemed really intimidating!

 

However, I found a great recipe and tips from The Shiksa in the Kitchen, via Bon Appetite online. The Shiksa is a great blog for Jewish/Kosher recipes and food history (and let's not forget that Bubbie Ruth's Mandel Bread won an honorable mention in her recipe competition!). This article gave a great suggestion for round challah, which was creating a chain of dough links in a circle and letting it bake into a full round. I love the symbolism and the result!

 

I made the challah in advance, and then wrapped the fully baked and cooled rounds in foil and plastic wrap to freeze. When it was time to serve, I unwrapped and let them come to room temperature over 6 hours. Then I re-wrapped them in foil and popped them into a 250 degree oven for about 20 minutes. They tasted great!

 

Challah

Adapted from The Shiksa in the Kitchen

 

This will make 1 large braided challah or 2 smaller round challot

 

Ingredients:

Dough
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water, divided
1 packet active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg
3 egg yolks
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons salt
4 1/2 to 6 cups all-purpose baking flour

Egg Wash
1 egg
1 tablespoon cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt

optional
1 1/2 cups raisins (for Rosh Hashana)
Sesame seeds or poppy seeds

Instructions:
Pour 1/4 cup of the lukewarm water (about 110 degrees F) into a large mixing bowl. Add 1 packet of active dry yeast and 1 tsp of sugar to the bowl, stir to dissolve. Wait 10 minutes. The yeast should have activated, meaning it will look expanded and foamy. Add remaining 1 1/4 cup lukewarm water to the bowl along with the egg and egg yolks, honey, canola oil and salt; whisk till blended.

Begin stirring the flour into the bowl by half-cupfuls. When mixture becomes too thick to stir, use your hands to knead. I added in about 3.5 cups and mixed it with the paddle attachment on my stand mixer. Then I slowly started to use the dough hook with an additional 1.5 cups. Continue to add flour and knead the dough until it’s smooth and elastic, not sticky. The amount of flour you will need to achieve this texture varies; only add flour until the dough feels pliable and “right.” If you plan to add raisins to the challah, incorporate them into the dough as you knead.

Preheat your oven to 250. Once it reaches temperature, turn it off, but don't open the oven yet. Remove the dough from your mixing bowl and wash out the bowl. Grease the bowl with canola oil. Push the dough back into the bottom of the bowl, then flip it over so that both sides are slightly moistened by the oil. Cover the bowl with foil, then place it on the top rack of your oven. After 1 hour, take the dough out and punch it down into the bowl several times to remove air pockets. Place it back inside the oven and let it rise for 1 hour longer.

Take the dough out of the oven. Flour a smooth surface like a cutting board. Punch the dough down into the bowl a few times, then turn the dough out onto the floured surface. Knead for a few minutes, adding flour as needed to keep the dough from feeling sticky.

Now your dough is ready to braid. See the "How to Make a Round Challah" link at the bottom of the page here.

After you’ve braided your challah, place it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper–one braid per cookie sheet. Prepare your egg wash by beating the egg, salt and water till smooth. Use a pastry brush to brush a thin layer of egg wash onto the visible surface of your challah. Reserve the leftover egg wash.

Cover the challah loosely with plastic wrap and let it rise 30 to 45 minutes longer. You’ll know the dough is ready to bake when you press your finger into the dough and the indentation stays, rather than bouncing back.

Remove the plastic wrap from the challah. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. The challah needs to bake for about 40 minutes total. First, bake your challah for 20 minutes. Take the challah out of the oven and touch up the center of the braid with another thin layer of egg wash (this area tends to expand during baking). Turn the cookie sheet around, so the opposite side is facing front, and put it back into the oven.

Bake the challah for about 20 minutes longer (bulkier shapes like round challahs might need more time in the oven). For this last part of the baking process, keep an eye on your bread–it may brown faster than it’s baking. When the challah is browned to your liking, take the tray out and tent it with foil, then place it back in the oven. Remove the foil for the last 2 minutes of baking time.

Take the challah out of the oven. At this point your house should smell delicious. You can test the bread for doneness by turning it over and tapping on the bottom of the loaf–if it makes a hollow sound, it’s done. Let challah cool on the baking sheet or a wire cooling rack before serving.

TWD Baking with Julia

 

After a loooooong hiatus, I'm back! I needed to focus on work and family for a little while, but I missed my food blogging. So I jumped in with both feet and joined the newest TWD group. I really loved being a part of the original Tuesdays With Dorie (Greenspan) group, and this one is probably going to be just as delicious. Maybe a bit more difficult, but I'm still excited. 

We are following Dorie's book, Baking with Julia, published in the mid-90's. I bought my copy used, from Amazon, and it came from a Goodwill shop in California, with "Rosie's Cookbook" written in the cover. I wonder who Rosie is, and I hope she knows her cookbook is being brought back to life!

I've never made popovers before, because I always assumed that you needed the popover pan. FALSE! YOU DON'T! Dorie told me so. You can just use a muffin pan, spacing out the batter to every other tin. Ta-da! Fresh hot popovers on Saturday morning. Loved by husbands and toddlers alike. Try them yourself, using the recipe posted here!

These were good - but not great. I think I'd add something more to the batter next time, maybe a pinch more salt or even a bit of sugar. I guess they are supposed to be a vehicle for butter/jam/clotted cream, but I would like them to have a little more flavor as a stand-alone treat. Lots of fun to get back into it, though, and look out for MORE Dorie/Julia deliciousness! 

Also, coming soon...NEW BLOG NAME and look! 

TWD: I love scones. Sconey sconey scones.

I love scones - they are incredibly easy to make and the buttery crumbly texture goes very nicely with my morning coffee. I jazzed these up (although, to be honest, they didn't need it!) with some dark chocolate chunks and passed them off to my coworkers. It's great to be able to bake for a big crowd again!

Scones are best served/eaten fresh out of the oven, like biscuits, so I'll keep this simple recipe on hand for my next family brunch. Thanks to Lynn of Cafe Lynnylu for choosing this weeks delicious Dorie dish! See Lynn's blog for the recipe.

TWD: Maple Cornmeal Drop Biscuits

This weeks Dorie-tastic recipe was chosen by Lindsay of A Little Something...Sweet! This was a great choice, as it was so easy to throw together and I had everything I needed. The biscuits were crunchy on the outside, moist and crumbly in the middle, with a slight hint of maple sweetness. Unfortunately, all I had was the "fake" maple syrup, so the flavor wasn't as pronounced as I would have liked. But have no fear! I solved that by drizzling syrup over a hot biscuit. Delicious!

Thanks for the great choice, Lindsay!

Pumpkin Gingerbread

Yup, it's as good as you think it's going to be. If a loaf of pumpkin bread and a loaf of gingerbread decided to have a baby...this would be their delicious lovechild. Fragrant, spicy, tender, and just the right amount of sweetness (at least in my version). The full recipe makes 2 loaves and I planned to bring one to work. Until I tasted it and decided that it was much better suited for my freezer to enjoy at a future date. What can I say? I'm selfish like that.

Make this. Now. You won't be sorry.

Pumpkin Gingerbread

adapted from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
3 cups sugar (I used 1 cup white sugar and 1.5 cups brown)
1 cup vegetable oil (could use applesauce as a fat-free replacement. Won't alter taste at all!)
4 eggs
2/3 cup water
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans.

In a large mixing, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice cinnamon, and clove.

In medium bowl, combine flour, soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour. If you're using dark pans, watch the crust. I had to tent mine with foil after about 50 minutes and they were still a little crispy on the bottom.

Cinnamon Amish Friendship Bread (Cake)

I've heard about Amish Friendship Bread for years, but never had the opportunity to try it until now. Alex's aunt gave me a bag of starter at a family party and I was so excited. It's called Amish Friendship Bread because after you've fed the starter and taken care of it for a week, you divide it up into 4 more bags and pass it along to friends.

Taking care of, and feeding, the starter is quite simple. You mush the bag around for a few days, eventually dumping in some milk, flour and sugar. Then you mush it around for a few more days, and turn it into a lovely batter on day 10.

Now, to be fair, it is more similar to a cake than a bread - with a tender crumb, sweet flavor and cinnamon sugar toping. However, in keeping with tradition, I can call it bread if that makes the Amish happy. But, they probably aren't even reading this anyways...

I've typed out the whole recipe that I was given, but I made a few observances/changes along the way.

Cinnamon Amish Friendship Bread

Things to note:

- Do not use any type of metal utensil - bowl, spoon, or pan (I only had a metal loaf pan, and it didn't affect the cake in any way/shape/form.)

- Do not refrigerate

- If there is air in the bag at anytime, let it out

- It's normal for the batter to rise, bubble and ferment

Starter Instructions:

Day 1: Do nothing! This is the day you're given the starter

Day 2: Mush the bag

Day 3: Mush

Day 4: Mush

Day 5: Mush

Day 6: Add to the bag:

1 cup milk

1 cup flour

1 cup sugar

Day 7: Mush the bag

Day 8: Mush

Day 9: Mush

Day 10: Pour the entire contents of the bag into a large non-metal bowl. Add to the bowl:

1.5 cup milk

1.5 cup flour

1.5 cup sugar (I cut back on this)

Mix well with a non-metal spoon. Label 4 large ziploc bags with "Day 1" and the date. Pour one cup of the mixture into each bag and give to your friends, along with these directions.

Baking Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350

Add the following and mix well by hand

3 eggs

1 cup oil (or applesauce for lower fat)

1/2 cup milk

1 cup sugar (I cut back on this)

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

1.5 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 package of instant vanilla pudding mix

Optional: any nuts, dried fruit, etc. I added in KAF Cinnamon Chips because they are awesome.

Pan Dusting:

1/2 cup sugar (could reduce easily)

1.5 tsp cinnamon

Grease bottom and sides of 1-2 loaf pans. (The original recipe called for 2 loaf pans, but I had just enough batter for one full one, and about 1/4 inch of a second. If you do 2 pans, fill each only halfway.)

Dust pan with cinnamon/sugar mixture, and tap out excess back into the bowl. Pour batter evenly into both pans, or into just one, and dust the top with extra cinn/sugar mixture. Bake for approx. 1 hour, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and then carefully remove from a pan. Let it come to room temperature on a cooling rack.

TWD: Raisin Swirl Bread

I wasn't going to bake this. I was going to resist the siren's song of warm, soft, sweet, doughy bread. My tiny little uterine occupant has become VERY carb-demanding and I can feel the scale rising. I was going to forgo this recipe and munch on an apple instead.

Ooops. Well, at least I ate an apple while the bread was in the oven.

Today's Dorie selection was picked by Susan of Food.Baby, and I would like to give her a warm and doughy hug. The Raisin Swirl Bread sounds intimidating, especially if you're like me and have a fear of yeast. However, it honestly couldn't be easier. There's no kneading, just mixing and rolling. The dough is soft and pliable, easy to work with, and deliciously smeared with butter, sugar, cinnamon and raisins.

My finished product was a little cracked on top, but the inside was a lovely swirl of flavor. Alex and I immediately each ate a slice and I had another one for breakfast. The bread reminds me of challah - slightly sweet and buttery with that golden stringy texture. The filling isn't too sweet, and the optional addition of cocoa powder makes for a nice flavor balance.

I'll be surprised if this makes it to Friday. That sneaky carb-loving baby.

Homemade Bread - Snow Storm baking

Mother Nature came along and dumped about 2 feet of snow on us in Baltimore this weekend. And I loved every second of it! Well, okay, I didn't love going out to walk the dog (friend's dog that I was watching this weekend) at 7AM, but aside from that...I loved it.

My favorite part of a snow storm is the absolute silence. You can actually hear the silence, it's so all-encompassing. To me, it's a profound and calming sense of solitude that comes with standing outside in the snow. If you live in an area with snow, you know what I mean. I can't explain it any better than that. Next time you have a snow storm (and I mean more than just 2 inches), go stand outside and just listen.

Snow storms also inspire me to bake. I decided to finally try my hand at homemade bread, since I've never done it before. I wanted something fresh to go along with a batch of Cumin Lentil soup I made, so I googled around until I found one I could make with my limited pantry supplies.

I don't think it turned out too badly for a first attempt! I think my yeast was past its prime, so the dough didn't rise as quickly as I had hoped. The overall loaf was tasty and fresh, but a little dense. That might be the nature of homemade whole wheat bread - or possibly because I didn't knead it correctly. But I do know that a hot slice of freshly baked bread slathered in butter (okay, SmartBalance) certainly made my day.

Ingredients:
adapted from wholewheatbread.blogspot.com
3 1/2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup honey
1 cup warm water
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 packet of dry yeast

Instructions:
In a large mixing bowl, combine the yeast with the water, and stir to dissolve. Mix in the milk, honey, oil and salt. Mix in the flour and stir until the dough pulls away from the edges of the bowl. (I tried to use my kitchenaid with the dough hook at this point and it didn't work out so well. I've never used it before so I didn't exactly know what I was doing.)

Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 6-10 minutes, until it becomes smooth.
Place a small amount of oil in a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl and flip the dough to ensure that it's thorougly coated with oil. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rise for approx. 1 hour. It should double in size. Note: This made take longer if the room is cold.

Take the dough out of the bowl and place on a lightly floured surface, shape the dough into a 8 inches log and place into a lightly grease loaf pan. Loosely cover the pan with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rise for 30 to 60 minutes, until it rises approx.1 inch above the top of the pan. Preheat the oven to 350.

Place the pan in center of oven and bake for about 40 minutes, total. After the first 20 minutes, loosely cover the pan with aluminum foil. You can test if the wheat bread is done by thumping the bottom of the bread. When it's done, it should sound hollow. Allow to cool and then slice. Or be like me and slice off the end when it's steaming hot.