Recipe for "challah-2"

NAME

     CHALLAH-2 - Braided egg bread
     Challah (pronounced ``hallah'') is a  type  of  braided  egg
     bread  traditionally  eaten  on  the  Jewish Sabbath.  It is
     eaten by tearing off hunks rather than  by  cutting  with  a
     knife.
     I got this recipe from a housemate a couple of years ago;  I
     don't know its origins before that, but it has become one of
     my favorite recipes, and one with which I have  experimented
     a  good  deal. I've tried several other challah recipes, but
     find I like this one the best.

INGREDIENTS (2 Large Loaves)

          DOUGH
     15 g      active dry yeast (2 packages)
     5 dl      warm water
     20 ml     salt
     100 g     granulated sugar
     15 cl     vegetable oil (or up to 1 dl more, to taste)
     3         large eggs
     1 kg      all-purpose flour
          GLAZE
     1         large egg
               sesame or poppy seeds

PROCEDURE

          (1)  Mix yeast in warm water. Let sit 5 minutes.
          (2)  In a large bowl combine  salt,  sugar,  eggs,  and
               oil.
          (3)  Add yeast mixture.
          (4)  Slowly add flour, stirring until not  too  sticky.
               When  the dough becomes too thick to stir, turn it
               out onto a floured board and knead,  adding  flour
               as  necessary.  Scrape  the working surface with a
               plastic dough spatula from time to time, to keep a
               dry  skin  from  forming on it.  You may find that
               you need more flour, but don't add too much  more,
               or  the  dough will become heavy.  Knead until the
               dough is smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes).
          (5)  Form dough into a ball  and  place  in  a  lightly
               oiled  large  bowl, turning to coat the dough with
               oil. A ceramic bowl is best. Cover the bowl with a
               clean  cloth and leave in a warm, draft-free place
               to rise for 11/2 hours, or until doubled in bulk.
          (6)  After the dough  has  risen,  punch  it  down  and
               divide  it  into 6 balls.  Let the dough balls sit
               for 5 minutes, covered.
          (7)  Keeping dough balls covered while working,  remove
               a ball and roll it between your hands (or on work-
               ing surface) into a cord about 2.5 cm wide  by  50
               cm  long.   The  dough is quite elastic, making it
               nicely workable,  yet  also  tending  to  make  it
               shrink  back  slightly  after  being lengthened. I
               find it best to lengthen it in a series of passes.
               Form  3  cords  this  way, and then start from the
               middle and braid them into a single loaf. Tuck the
               ends  under.   It's  a little harder to figure out
               how to start braiding from  the  middle,  but  the
               loaves come out more even and attractive that way.
               Don't pull the cords  while  braiding.  Place  the
               loaf on a lightly oiled baking sheet, and cover it
               with a cloth while you form the other loaf.   Keep
               the  loaves  well apart on the baking sheet, since
               they will expand a lot.
          (8)  Cover the loaves and  place  again  into  a  warm,
               draft-free place to rise for 45-60 minutes.
          (9)  After the loaves have risen, gently brush the tops
               with  beaten  egg  using  a  soft  brush, and then
               sprinkle with the seeds.
          (10) Bake at 175 deg. C for 30 minutes, or until golden
               brown.

NOTES

     The variation in oil makes quite a difference in  the  mois-
     ture of the bread: If you use the larger quantity, the bread
     comes out very nice and moist, but when it cools it  becomes
     somewhat oily.
     The amounts of sugar and oil may sound high, but try it this
     way  once  before  cutting  back. I have tried other recipes
     that use less, and they don't taste nearly as good.
     Here's the fun part: variations.  Because this dough  is  so
     workable,  you can form it many different ways, limited only
     by your imagination; I once made a whole collection of  dif-
     ferent  shapes  and sizes, for a festive dinner party.  Some
     of the variations I have tried include:
     -    Forming the braided loaf into a wreath-like  loop  (and
          joining the individual ends)
     -    Braiding 5 ways instead of 3
     -    Braiding 3 braided loaves into a recursive  loaf  (this
          actually didn't turn out very well: it ended up looking
          knotty,  rather  than  intricate,  and  being  somewhat
          tough)
     -    Baking a small loaf on top of  a  larger  loaf  (tradi-
          tional)
     -    Varying the loaf sizes. One  time  I  made  individual-
          sized  loaves,  so  that  everyone could have their own
          loaf at dinner.  Another time, I divided the dough into
          2  halves,  set  one  aside, and made a loaf out of the
          other half.  Then, I divided the remaining piece into 2
          halves,  and continued the process until I had an array
          of loaves, each half  the  size  of  the  previous.   I
          managed  to get 9 loaves by doing this, the smallest of
          which was about by 5 cm.
     -    Varying the length-to-width proportions; traditionally,
          challah loaves are quite wide relative to their length.
          I find that shorter, wider  loaves  are  doughier  (and
          thus tastier), but longer loaves look more elegant.
     -    Adding extra ingredients, such as raisins and/or nuts.

RATING

     Difficulty: moderate.  Time: 30 minutes dough preparation, 1
     1/2  hours  first rising, 1 hour loaf forming, 1 hour second
     rising, 30 minutes baking. Total: 4 1/2  hours.   Precision:
     Approximate measurement OK.

CONTRIBUTOR

     Mike Schwartz
     University of Washington, Computer Science, Seattle, Washington, USA
     ihnp4!uw-beaver!schwartz schwartz@cs.washington.edu