Shabat shalom!!
Very pretty!
Linda C

If I had a video of me dancing I would post it here for just one piece of your bread...

That looks great! Really great! Ask Suekoff, it's just like we'd get at the diner here!

Thanks guys!

I WANT MY DANCING CAT!!!!!

Triplets

How's this?

OMG Shaun! Those are great dancing kitties.

oh the horny cats..snort~
That's a beautiful bread loaf Jessy!

(Terri thats along the lines of what DH just said! That and something about 'waste of bandwidth'....what does he know!)

Thank you Shaun. I am now complete.

Nice bread Jessy!

Nancy

You know Karen and Nancy, I'll never be able to eat my challah the same way again. In fact, I've been inspired to new, lower levels of challah making. Who knows what I'll create next week, with that tail in mind.

ROTFLMAO
Thanks for the recipe and the laugh!

Oh, wait, there was a recipe, wasn't there???
The picture of the bread looks great however you look at it!
;-)
Cathy

Congratulations Evil One... That's one beautiful loaf of bread- show off!

michaelp

That's a beauty! Will you teach me how to do that?

That is one perfect looking Challah Jessica. I'm impressed.

Looks stunning, and delicious.....Love those cats, too!

Lucy

Jessy, I love the gloss your bread has...beautiful!

Here's my recipe for challah, it makes a sweet, eggy, almost brioche-like bread. I sometimes double the recipe for 2 large loaves.

Makes two small or one large challah.

2 1/4 t yeast
Approx. 3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
Approx. 1/4 cup warm water
3 large eggs & 2 yolks, plus 1 for glazing
2 t salt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey

In a large bowl, whisk together the yeast and 1/4 cup of the flour, then whisk in the warm water until smooth. Let the yeast slurry stand uncovered for 10 to 20 minutes, or until it begins to ferment and puff up slightly.

Whisk the 3 eggs & yolks, salt, oil, and honey into the puffed yeast slurry until the eggs are well incorporated and the salt has dissolved. Stir in the remaining 3 1/4 cups flour all at once. When the mixture is a shaggy ball, scrape it out onto your work surface and knead it until smooth, no more than 5 minutes - if the dough is too firm to knead easily, add a tablespoon or two of water to it, if it seems too wet, add a couple T flour.

Place the dough in a warm clean bowl and cover it with plastic wrap. (for best results refrigerate the dough right after kneading, them removed from the refrigerator to finish fermenting up to 24 hours later). Let the dough ferment until it has at least doubled in bulk, about 2 hours, depending on the temperature in your kitchen. (If the dough has been refrigerated, it may take an extra hour or so to ferment).

Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or oil them. Divide the dough into two portions for small loaves, one 1 1/2 pound portion for a large loaf. Divide each portion into 3 pieces and roll each piece into a strand - braid, sealing ends well.

Cover the loaves well with plastic wrap. (I refrigerate for 24 hours, if possible). Let them proof until tripled in size, about 2 hours (or 3-4 hours if the loaves were refrigerated).

Preheat the oven to 325°F. Beat the remaining egg with a pinch of salt for glazing the breads.

When the loaves have tripled and do not push back when gently pressed with your finger but remain indented, brush them with the egg glaze (poppy seeds optional). Bake the small loaves loaves for 25 to 38 minutes, or the large loaf for 35 to 48 minutes, until very well browned. After the first 20 minutes of baking, switch the loaves from front to back so that they brown evenly; if the large loaf is browning too quickly, tent it with foil. When the loaves are done, remove them from the oven and let cool on a rack.

Paulines I can smell those from here. My glaze is an egg wash - egg mixed with a bit of water, no salt (why salt, I'm curious).

Thanks everyone for the ooohs and ahhh. I've had trouble getting my challah right and it feels good to have gotten to a point where I and the family are happy!

Woodenzoo and Ellen here is my recipe. I have to tweak it again because I bought a different brand bag (25 lbs at Smart and Final for $9) of 'high gluten' flour and it was too wet. I truly find that every batch of bread is different and sometimes I have to add more water or flour to get it right, depending on weather, etc.! Plus, my kids like a sweeter, eggier bread, so like Paulines, this is almost a brioche. The thread I linked has the six strand braiding instructions, and my picture shows my first attempts.

I use a Zojurishi bread machine for the kneading.

3/4 cup water
eyeball the salt - 1 tsp?
2 eggs
1/3 cup honey (THAT makes a difference - no more sugar)
2 Tbsp oil
3-1/2 cups flour
2-1/4 tsp Red Star yeast, from the 1 lb foil bag

After the bread machine does its thing for about two hours, I take out the dough, punch it down, always forget to let it rest and start braiding on a Silpat in a 1/2 sheet cake pan. I let it rise, covered with a towel in a barely warmed oven, about an hour, until 'doubled'. I bake 25 minutes at 325 in my convection oven and its plenty done. YMMV!

Here's a recipe I recently tried, and oh so good.
I let the dough sit for 3 days in the refrigerator, flavor & texture were absolutely wonderful.

Lucy

Master Challah Dough
(From Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois)

1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
1 1/2 tbl instant yeast
1 1/2 tbl kosher salt (1 1/2 tsp table salt)
4 lg eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
7 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

In a large bowl, mix together the eggs, water, honey, melted butter, yeast and salt. Stir well with a wooden spoon. Add in the flour. Stir until you don't see any more dry bits of flour. Cover (not airtight) and stick it in the refrigerator overnight, or up to 4 days. The longer you let it sit in the refrigerator, the better tasting the dough will be.

If you want, you can let it rise for 2 hours on the counter, pinch off the dough that you need to make your Challah. However, with only a 2-hour rise, the bread isn't very flavorful. Still good, but definitely not as good as if you had let it sit 1-4 days in the refrigerator.

'Ooops I did it again'....well, I do have company coming today...

Should I start a new thread called 'Watching the Oven Channel' - kinda like us laundryholics in the Laundry Room Forum, pulling up our chairs and watching the front loaders go around and round

Jessy !!!!!!!! Those are absolutely gorgeous! Wow, I'm impressed.

And yes, I pulled a chair up to my front loader when I first got it and watched it...sigh.

Jessy, Those buns...I mean challahs are gorgeous! I am really impressed.

I see your on your knees.....

Very lovely, Jessy. They look like they are from the best bakery. Isn't it surprising how the 6 braid vs the 3 braid makes the challah taste different? Making the ropes seemed to take so long when I started last summer but now it goes really fast.

Gorgeous Bread!

Michelle

Jessy, your loaves are lovely, really perfect!

I think the pinch of salt to the egg glaze is for flavor more than anything? It was called for in the original recipe that I first used. I've since then changed up the recipe and kept the salt ~ anyone have any ideas as to what the salt in the glaze is for?

Goodness...pure goodness!

See this kitty is peeking too!

Ooh, I'm so excited! Now I have several new Challah recipes to try. I had a good, eggy one once, but lost it and haven't found one as rich since.

Thanks!

Here I wasn't planning on making bread today, but now I just might change my mind. I'm feeling inspired! Beautiful breads, all.

I have trouble just making and forming rolls, though, and have never considered trying to braid bread. Is it as difficult as it looks?

Sally

Sally, it's not difficult. At first making the ropes of dough was a bit time consuming but now that my hands know how to do it even that goes quite fast. Have you ever braided lanyards at summer camp or anything like that? It's pretty much the same and easier than braiding hair (no little strands trying to escape).

Even if you don't do it perfectly, the bread will look good and after a couple of times it will look even better.

Stunning, all of them! I never even though of doing a 6 braid vs. 3 braid. It's so much prettier! Congrats! You should be proud of yourself. No kitties, sorry!
Nancy