Hello Monday! How was yours??? Mine was.. ehhh.. it wasn't all that. It started off wrong, continued to go wrong and then I just had to make the best of it. BUT, I got myself on track and watched the Chef's demo and was ready as ever to make more bread :) Nothing puts a smile on your face like the smell of fresh bread. It really is the little things that count!
These are the chef's demo Challa breads. :) They look so beautiful. We sure did try our best to mimic these and we came somewhat close. Challah is the traditional Sabbath bread for the Jewish community. You create three separate doughs and then you roll them out to long, baguette style, shapes. You then connect the three at the top by pressing them together and braid them, finishing them off at the end with the same pressing of the dough. Here is what the dough will look like after you have braided and sealed:
As we learned today, the three separate strands stand for TRUTH, PEACE and JUSTICE. It's great to see that way back when, there was a beautiful meaning brought into the art of baking. I didn't know each strand stood for something! Challah is a sweet bread that is flavored with honey, sugar, egg and butter. We did not use butter in our bread, we used oil instead. The dough was great to work with. It wasn't too sticky. Boy oh boy, when that dough is sticky, and you are a rookie like me who forgets to put flour on her hands before rolling and shaping, it creates a bit of a frustrating mess. :) Tee Hee... See, I keep learning as I go along. Here are our breads! Arnt they just SO cute!! Love them! Mine is the one in the middle. And it ain't no monkey ;) Sigh!!!
If you want to try this one out, here is the recipe!! Enjoy! Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 lb of WATER
.50 oz of INSTANT YEAST
2 lbs 8 oz of BREAD FLOUR
8 oz of EGG YOLK ( in carton is perfect)
3 oz of SUGAR
.50 oz of HONEY
1.0 or less of SALT
4 oz of VEGETABLE OIL
Throw all those babies into your mixer, making sure that the salt does not come into direct contact with the yeast. Please go back to my previous blogs for the 12 steps to make this one correctly. Remember to add the oil last as the dough will absorb the odors quite quickly. This makes 4 loaves or 12 strands. :)
The bread is delicious!! It is actually more delicious to me nice and warm and yummy!! BUT, I wanted to bring it home looking beautiful for my parents... sooo I held off. :)
Ok my sweets! Tomorrow we are making a soft dough in knot shapes and also going to make that Focaccia we have been waiting for. I have a practical to take on Thursday and am totally crossing all my fingers and toes that I do things right. He is hard on us when it comes to practicals, but its better to learn how to do things right the first time around so you can continue using those methods later in life. So I appreciate it but that doesn't mean I'm not scared! :)
Have an amazing night and look forward to hearing from you!! Off I go to practice, practice, practice.
XO
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteUmm...technical difficulty...let's try again :)
ReplyDeleteWhoo-hoo for Challah!!! Wow! The bread looks so beautiful :) You all did such a fantastic job! It's amazing what you can do with dough right? I want you to know that I so very appreciate your tidbits on the sweets that you are making. I really like learning not only how you bake the sweets but the stories that go with them. I love what this bread stands for! I am definitely planning on using these tidbits in my classroom so thank you sweetie! I know you will do fabu on your practical and I wish you the bestest of luck!! Have fun tomorrow! xoxox :)
The breads look wonderful! I saw a PBS documentary on the making of the Sabbath Bread and they look just the same although I just learned what the strands stand for. I love it when someone helps others learn ways not of their own. Thanks "M" As for the sticky fingers...LOL! Could have been worse (Nose Itch)hehehe. Thanks for the recipe.
ReplyDeleteSay, i'd like to place another order. Make that two...Funnel Cakes and Churros!
I know I know, your not in Circus School ;)
Thank you girls!! G, I am glad that there was something educational to share! Yippee...
ReplyDeleteCindy Galarza!!! We dont make funnel cakes!! uugghh.. And Churros?!?! Really? hahaha