The New and Improved Five Strand!!

Now that finals are finally over I decided to make a celebratory challah... also known as the challelujah challah. After a long stressful week of finals and a few break downs (not gonna lie), I decided that the best way to destress would be with some challah. This week I made my favorite challah combination of Nutella and white chocolate chips. To spice it up a little I attempted a new version of the five strand braid. You can tell that our challah making skill have clearly improved over that last three years by looking at the comparison for summer 2012 and 2015!

                                         June 2012                                                          May 2015

Back in the day when we first started making challah we attempted to make a five strand braid. Recently we figured out a new and MUCH prettier way to make a five strand challah. Here is the new and improved version with a step by step walk through. Hopefully its not too confusing! Think about it as making a regular three strand braid where one strand transfers to the other side.

 June 2012                                             May 2015

Step 1: Lay all your strand out on the counter and gather them together at the top

Step 2:  Start by looking at strands 3, 4, and 5 and braid them like a regular three strand. Put strand 5 over 4 and then strand 3 over 5.

Step 3: Now look at only strands 1, 2, and 5 and braid them as you would a three-stand braid. Place strand 1 over 2 and strand 5 over 1.

Step 4: Using strands 1, 3, and 4 repeat the same steps and make a three-strand braid. (4 over 3 and 1 over 4) Now the other side will include strands 2, 5, and 4.

Repeat the same process of braiding a three-strand braid and then switching to the other side.

Continue until there you do not have enough to braid anymore. Gather the strands together and tuck the ends underneath what was already braided.

It took approximately 25 minutes for the challah to be cooked evenly throughout.

Blueberry Butterscotch Challah

What do you get when you combine accounting students and community service? MAcc Gives back! Last week the masters of accounting students and professors went to various locations to give back to the community. I went to the Franklin Park Conservatory which features indoor gardens filled with plant life and artwork, including colored glass sculptures, as well as outdoor botanical gardens and sculptures. Of course being the loser (I mean super cool) accountants that we are, we talked about how the conservatory would be treated like a museum under non-profit rules. Interestingly the elements of the exhibit are treated as expenditures, and not assets, and it is frowned upon to sell the elements even if faced with financial hardship. We were split up into 3 groups and my group helped to set up a new bonsai exhibit. Bonsais are miniature trees that are grown in pots that are actually trained to grow a certain way. We added bamboo accents and colored flowers to the surrounding area to highlight the exhibit. The exhibit is actually all fake, the flowers were all in pots and we arranged them and then covered them with moss to make them look like they grew inside the garden. After volunteering we were given the opportunity to explore the conservatory. There were all these glass pieces in different exhibits that were so colorful and beautiful. My favorite part of the conservatory was the butterfly exhibit because it reminded me of the Butterfly Garden at the Bronx Zoo that I went to a lot as a kid. The building that holds the butterflies at the Bronx Zoo is actually in the shape of a caterpillar and you enter the exhibit through the caterpillar's mouth. This week's challah shape was inspired by this exhibit because it is long (and a little wiggly) just like a caterpillar.

 

Recipe: (makes 2 small loaves or 1 big loaf)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.25 tbsp honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
1 tsp vanilla
3-3.5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Blueberry Pie Filling
Butterscotch Chips
White Chocolate Chips

Mix water, yeast, honey and brown sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.

In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs, oil, and vanilla. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed. Add flour and salt. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about 1-2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air.

Separate the dough and roll out each ball into a strand. Spread a layer of the blueberry pie filling, making sure not to use too much or else it will ooze out. Place butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips on top and pinch each strand closed. I did a 6 strand challah, but you can do whatever shape you want.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap and allow the challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

Bake for about 35 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook. You will need to cover this challah if you choose 6 strand because it is tall so the inside takes longer to cook.

What a great springtime challah, perfect for your next picnic or trip to Oval Beach!

Cranberry Goat Cheese Challah

It can be hard to come up with different challah recipes so this week I went to the farmers market with my mom to get some inspiration. The farmers market is located just a few minutes away from my house and is held inside a garden center. There are many vendors who sell various food products such as bakery items, herbs, cheese, honey, soup, fudge, bagels, and sandwiches. Of course being a typical Jewish girl I had to get a bagel, although they didn't have lox so that was kind of disappointing. The bagel place also sold challah, but obviously they didn't look nearly as good as our challahs. I have actually thought about selling my challahs but I just don't have the time, maybe when I retire. But that's why I have this blog, so all of you can make your own challahs!

There were so many exciting flavors at the farmers market, and of course we had free samples of everything, but what really caught my eye was the West River Creamery cheese stand. The woman had many cheese for us to sample and we ended up choosing a fresh chevre with cranberry cheese, which is basically goat cheese with cranberries. I knew this would make a great flavor for our next challah!

Here's me at the farmers market with my cheese, baked goods, and my new friend Reptar!

Recipe: (makes 2 small loaves or 1 big loaf)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
1.75 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sugar
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
3-3.5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Craisins
Pecans
Walnuts
Chevre with Cranberry (goat cheese with cranberry)

Mix water, yeast, honey and sugar in a mixing bowl. Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.

In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed. Add flour and salt. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Cut up the crasins, pecans, and walnuts and add to the dough. I'm not exactly sure how much we ended up using but it was less than we had cut up. We also added more later when braiding the dough.

 

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about 1-2 hours, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air.

Separate the dough and roll out each ball into a strand. Crumple up the cheese and place on the strands, then pinch each strand closed. I did a 6 strand challah, but you can do whatever shape you want.

  
After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap and allow the challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again.

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).

Bake for about 35 minutes at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook. You will need to cover this challah if you choose 6 strand because it is tall so the inside takes longer to cook.

Yummy! I should really go to the farmers market more often!

Shamrock Challies

Step 1: Divide the dough into 8 pieces.

Step 2: Roll out each piece until it is about 12 inches long.

Step 3 (optional): If you want to fill you strand, use a rolling pin to flatten each strand and then add your filling and pinch each strand closed.

Step 4: Make one loop with the strand

Step 5: Make another loop next to the last one.

Step 6: Make one last loop and tuck the excess behind the shamrock.

Step 7: Place them close together on a buttered cookie sheet.

Step 9: Let dough rise about 30 minutes in a warm place

Step 10: Baste with egg wash (1 egg + 1/2 tbsp water).

Step 11: Bake for about 22 minutes at 350 degrees. Cover your challies with foil when it starts to brown to keep the challah cooking on the inside without changing color.

St. Patrick's Day Challah

For spring break I went back to visit my friends at my old school. I was so excited to be back and decided to St. Patrick's Day with little baby shamrock challies! Of course we wanted to dye the dough green but we couldn't find any green food coloring. At Miami there is a tradition called Green Beer Day on the Thursday before spring break. This meant that everyone had already bought all the green food coloring in preparation for Thursday and St. Patrick's Day. After search for a few hours we were able to find a friend who was willing to donate some food coloring for the challah production. In total we made six loaves worth of bread in one day! Special thanks to Kristin for helping with this baking marathon and for offering up her kitchen for the day.

Recipe: (makes 8 shamrock challies, or 1 big shamrock)
3/4 cup water
1 packet of active rapid rise dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
3 tbsp honey
3 extra large eggs: 2 for dough, 1 for baste
1/4 cup oil
3-3.5 cups flour
1 tsp salt
Green food coloring
Filling: Whatever you want! white chocolate chips, chocolate chips, caramel chips, cinnamon sugar, nutella, raspberry jam

Mix water, yeast, and honey in a mixing bowl. We also decided to add in the food coloring here so we wouldn't have to knead it into the dough later (this helps keep your hands from turning colors because of the food coloring). Place in a warm place. This could be next to a window that gets sunlight, or I like to place it in the oven at 120 degrees and then turn off the oven. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes or until the mixture starts to foam.

We originally let it rise for about 10 minutes (left picture) but left it in for longer till it got really foamy (right picture). It rose for about 10 additional minutes in the oven to get to to be this foamy.

In a separate bowl mix 2 eggs and oil. Add to the yeast mixture after it has foamed.

Add 2 cups of flour, followed by the salt, and then the rest of the flour. Make sure you mix the flour as you are adding it. Continue to add flour until the dough is no longer sticking to your hands.

Knead the ingredients and form into a ball. Oil the large bowl and then roll the ball of dough in the oil. This prevents the dough from sticking to the bowl as it rises. Place the ball back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Place it in a warm place. Let the bowl sit for about an hour and a half, or until the dough has doubled in size.
                               

After it had spent about an hour and 30 minutes rising take the dough out and see if you want to add any more food dye. (Warning adding in more dye here will tie-dye your hands! Don't worry the dye will eventually come out!)

Remove dough from bowl and knead to get out all the air. Roll out the strands fill them with whatever your heart desires! Next shape them into little shamrocks or a big shamrock.

After braiding the challah, place on a buttered cookie sheet and allow challah to rise for at least 30 minutes in a warm place. This allows the dough to rise again. I was able to fit all 8 challies on one cookie sheet!

Baste with egg wash (1 egg and 1/2 tbsp water).
*we forgot to egg wash so they accidentally baked for 10 minutes then we egg washed them and had them bake for another 10-15. They surprisingly came out okay! Not gonna lie we were a little worried!*

Bake for about 25 minutes for little shamrocks and 35 minutes for one big shamrock at 350 or until internal temperature is around 170. If the top of the challah is getting too dark or hard then place a piece of foil on top of it while the inside continues to cook, you will need to do that for this challah so that it stays green.

Everybody loved the shamrock Challah! The best part is how each challie had a different filling. We said that it was the luck of the Irish and you had to pick one and find out what was inside like a mystery.