Thanks, Linda! It does taste very good, although I am a bit concerned with how it might taste after a couple of days. I made it with two cups WW flour, 2 cups bread flour, 2-1/2 tbsp honey, 3 eggs, 2 tbsp potato starch (in place of potato flakes, which I did not have), 1-1/4 tbsp avocado oil, 2 tbsp VWG, plus the rest of the regular bread ingredients: 1 cup water, 2 tsp salt, and 2-1/2 tsp yeast. It's not overly sweet, and so I think it will be good for sandwiches later in the week. I might want to slice it and freeze it, and then toast it when I want to make sandwiches.

Looks beautiful!

I stopped buying 6 in 1 after I tried La Valle's peeled tomatoes. Did you try to order from Escalon? They'll do an order of 6, but it's now $3.50/can. I don't remember them being that high.

Escalon 6 in 1

La Valle tomatoes have citric acid, and I try to buy tomatoes without that ingredient, as it diminishes the sweetness. It also looks like they are more expensive.

I did not order the 6 in 1 from Escalon, as I could not get their site to work for me, but the last time I bought from them, they were $2.50 a can (qty of 6) and free shipping. I ordered the last ones from and Amazon seller and had to buy qty of 8, but I think the price was the same. The last tomatoes I bought at the market were Bella Terra Organic, which are imported and do not have citric acid, but they cost quite a bit more than 6 in 1, and I have not used them yet. They are "San Marzano Region" tomatoes and not San Marzon tomatoes, which might make a difference.

Yeah, no citric acid was why I bought 6 in 1 too, but after trying La Valle I decided I preferred their flavor. The citric acid is negligible. If I want ground tomatoes I buy Pomi's strained tomatoes.

Lars, that looks pretty good to me, I haven't tried the 6 strand braid yet. Right now I have some cheese buns rising on the counter, as I'm having some company tomorrow.

Annie

Lars, it looks beautiful. I've got that cookbook and need to make some bread tomorrow. I may, however, just let the machine do the baking because of the heat. Your braiding looks perfectly fine to me. I think you've got a hit on your hands!

Ahhhhh, such a beauty!

It looks perfect to me.

The fact that it tapers from one end to the other makes it more enjoyable.

It tells me that it is not bought from a store.

dcarch

Your Challah looks incredible, Lars! Great job on the braiding, too!

Beautiful.

I made French Toast this morning with the Challah, and it was the best FT I have made so far, mainly because of the bread, I think. Here's the recipe I use:

Lars’
French Toast

2
large eggs
2/3
cup milk
1-1/2 tsp
Cognac
1/4
cup unbleached wheat flour
1
pinch salt (1/16 tsp)
1/2
tsp cinnamon
1
Tbsp sugar
1/4
tsp baking soda
1/2
tsp baking powder
6
pieces thickly sliced bread (Challah or Brioche)
butter,
for frying
Maple
syrup

Beat
eggs in a small bowl, add milk and Cognac and stir to combine.

Mix
dry ingredients together in a separate bowl, and add wet ingredients.
Pour all but about 2 tbsp of this mixture into a low, square bowl for dipping the bread.

Have
12” skillet on a burner at medium heat.

Dip
two slices of bread into batter and allow them to absorb as much of
the mixture as possible.

Add
1 tsp butter (more or less) to the skillet, and then drop the bread
onto the skillet. Cook for 2 minutes on each side, and remove to a
200 degree oven to keep warm.

Repeat
the process until all four pieces have been cooked. For the last
piece of bread, it will be easier to pour the remaining batter on top
of the bread, to let it absorb.

Serve
with real maple syrup. Serves four.

Kevin had French Toast made with brioche in Paso Robles, but he said that this was as good.

Lars, congrats on the gorgeous challah. A work of art. I find that challah has a long shelf life, way longer than artisan. It's the butter and sugar/honey. I use white sugar instead of honey as I don't like the taste of honey or the messiness. But honey is very popular in challah and many prefer it. You got a hit, kiddo.

No question in my mind that your challah and that delicious sounding ft recipe is the best there could be Brioche with it's extra butter sounds just too greasy for ft to me, altho, again, it's personal. For heavens sake, it's butter bread, fried in butter and gilded with syrup. Gotta be careful about overkill. I think you nailed it.

It's very satisfying to make such a lucscious treat. You'll find it gets easier and easier the more you make it. And your audience will think you are a boulangerie champion- YOU made this?, they will exclaim. Enjoy.

BTW, I also freeze challah successfully. Double wrap with form fitting plastic bags.

Oh, I love 6 in 1 ground toms. Last week I made a superb tasty pot roast and I owe it's goodness to the 6-1's..They just taste so good, rich, deep. I havent tried every brand of toms or every brand of san marzano's, but nothing is as good to me as 6-1. I am so glad I found them. I have a few other cans of other brands to use up and then I am a loyal devotee. My pot roast was stove top and rich, rich. Ordinary ingreds, extraordinary taste bc of the 6-1's. Used vidalia and regular yellow onions, organic carrots, red and yukon baby pots and voila. Sorry for the rant.

just to beautiful to eat !! But I am sure I could get around it being to beautiful.....congratulation on a job well done !!

Lars, since you like sweet tomatoes you should try Sun Gold if you haven't already. They're by far my favorite!

I do not think I am growing tomatoes this year, but I will look for Sun Gold at the nursery. I used to buy Donna tomatoes years ago, and they were by far the sweetest and best I've had, but I have not seen them since I left Venice.

I think you may be right that Challah is better for FT than Brioche - I really do not need all that extra butter, and the Challah is very good for soaking up the batter. The FT had the exact texture that I was going for. I've made FT with Challah that I bought at the store, and it was not nearly as good as this. I used honey in the Challah because I have honey from Texas from clover flowers that I really like. I think it is clover honey - it might be wildflower.

I cut the bread exactly one hour after it was out of the oven. Since it had been photographed, there was no need to wait! I had always thought that the braid would be difficult to make, as I could not figure it out from looking at a loaf, but it turns out to be reasonably easy, after watching a couple of videos. Most of my cooking I have learned from TV or videos - I find that more inspiring that a written recipe, although photos can help me get over that.

Challah makes the best French toast!

Yours is beautiful.

Your French Toast sounds special. I'm going to give it a try.

Lars, just had to report that I made Beth Hensperger's whole wheat challah bread today. Baked it in my bread machine. It's cooling now and smells so good that I think a couple of slices will serve as dessert tonight. Thanks for posting your french toast recipe. I'd like to try it sometime this week.

Lars, that looks lovely. Since you asked, usually both ends are pointy, but who's quibbling? The secret is to start in the middle. It's also important when you ease out your strands to work them both directions. Other than that, it's just practice. :) Congrats on such a successful first try!

Yeah, usually you start braiding any braided bread in the middle, but that would be really confusing with the 6-strand braid, I think, or even 4, because you are braiding half of it upside down. Probably the hands would learn that motion after a while, just as we can automatically do 3-strand braids without thinking.

I just make 4-strand challah. Bravo, Lars, for jumping into challah with the 6-strand. Looks great.

I think I can live with a tapered loaf, which is difficult enough to manage without making it even more complicated. With a tapered loaf, I can decide whether I want to cut the big end or the small end! Plus I am just a beginner and want to try this method a few times before I try to branch off. If I see a good video of making the six strand braid starting in the middle, perhaps I can follow that, but otherwise, I really do not know how to do it.

Cathy, the FT recipe is very special (to me), as I have tweaked it a few times. I used to use a tsp of Vodka instead of the 1-1/2 tsp Cognac (or Brandy), but it is important to have the alcohol, as it makes the toast more tender and fluffy. You could use a teaspoon of Bourbon, or whatever flavor you may like, but I like Cognac or brandy best, and any of these are much better than vanilla. I used to make FT deep fried in a tempura style batter using French bread and served with Grand Marnier whipped cream, but I like this better.

I've decided that I will freeze a few slices of the Challah so that I can make more FT next week-end.

As Christine says, re the braiding from the middle, you just get used to it. I find it easiest to start with the center strands and work out to both edges, then back in again. But only if you want to! I don't know anyone who would turn down your loaf! Thanks, too, for the tip about the alcohol making for fluffy. I love fluffy!

Lars, well done. Beautiful Challah.