Challah

May’s Daring Bakers’ Challenge was pretty twisted – Ruth from The Crafts of Mommyhood challenged us to make challah! Using recipes from all over, and tips from “A Taste of Challah,” by Tamar Ansh, she encouraged us to bake beautifully braided breads.

I'd never made Challah before. Actually, I'd never even had Challah before this past Thanksgiving. Hard to believe given my great love of bread. But there you go.

I had to wait to make this as for the past month I've been in the process of moving. Things were packed, I lost my internet access for a bit, etc. etc. This is also the reason why last months' challenge, Nazook, just went up as well. Sorry y'all.

So I broke in my new kitchen with Challah; the first of many wonderful things to be made here, I'm sure. I was a little nervous as I am switching back to electric after years of having a gas oven. I think things turned out pretty well. 

I used the whole wheat Challah recipe that was provided by our host this month. The recipe was easy to follow; though it was missing where to add the salt. Which I then proceeded to completely forget about until I started kneading the dough. I added it in at that point, and the bread still came out nicely.

I attempted a 3-strand and a 4-strand braid. They both came out ok, though I'm still not positive I understand how the 4-strand braid was supposed to go.

Though time consuming, this is definitely something I will want to make again. And while I can just knock back a whole loaf of bread plain, I decided to make some french toast instead...