Challah - Interwoven Traditions | | |
Recipe type: Bread
Author: Carol Egbert
Prep time: 3 hours
Cook time: 35 mins
Total time: 3 hours 35 mins
Serves: 4 med loaves
A braided loaf of golden yeast bread, enriched with eggs and enhanced with ginger.
- 1 1/2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
- 1 3/4 cup lukewarm water
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 cup canola oil
- 5 large eggs
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 cup crystallized ginger, cut in 1/2 inch dice
- 8 to 9 cups all purpose flour
- oil to grease bowl
- 1 egg, to glaze dough
- Combined yeast, water and 1 T honey in bowl.
- Stir to dissolve, set aside in warm place for 15 minutes.
- Add oil, eggs, salt, remaining honey, cardamom, and crystallized ginger. Use stand mixture, fitted with dough hook to slowly combine flour with yeast mixture.
- When dough holds together, tip out onto well-floured counter.
- Continue adding flour while kneading dough until it is smooth and elastic.
- Turn into a large bowl, greased with vegetable oil, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside, to rise for 1 hour.
- When almost doubled in size, deflated dough, cover and let it rise again for 30 min.
- Divide dough in quarters, form each quarter into 3 balls, roll each ball into a strand 12 inches long.
- Put strands side-by-side, onto greased baking sheet and pinch together at one end.
- Braid dough by lifting center strand over left strand, then lift the new center strand and place over strand on the right.
- Continue, alternating strands to form a braid. Pinch the 3 strands together.
- Use pastry brush to glaze braid with beaten egg.
- Repeat process with remaining dough and put each loaf on baking sheet/s at least 2 inches apart.
- Add another layer of beaten egg to each loaf, after it had risen for another hour.
- Put loaves into an pre-heated 375º oven.
- Baked until golden and an instant read thermometer, poked into the center read 190º.
Recipe by Vermont food from a country kitchen - Carol Egbert at http://www.carolegbert.com/challah-interwoven-traditions