Kiss The Kosher Cook
By Malkie Hirsch
Sunday is a busy day around here. Long gone are the days when Moshe and I would wake up late and maybe decide to cross some errands off the list.
Some of you moms of daughters are reading this and thinking, “Well, her boys are in school half the day on Sunday so she gets a break.” Let me remind you that I have two little ones who make up for my four on a good day. There are birthday parties, shopping for pants (because everybody knows that your son can’t keep a pair for longer than about four wears without getting a hole in the knee), and, G‑d help me, there’s trying on clothes that need trying on, because who wants to deal with a hissy fit on yom tov day when your husband is halfway out the door, threatening, “Dovid, I’m leaving without you in two minutes!”
Fun stuff like this!
So why, oh why, was I determined to put together a new whole-wheat challah recipe for yom tov on a day like Sunday? Why, when I knew my two-year-old would scrape a chair across my (new) floor and sidle on up to me, insisting on helping me braid? Why!?
I’m stubborn. I’ve baked many batches of challah during my married life, so it’s a piece of cake. Right?
Wrong.
This has happened once before. The dough was mixed, it rose nicely, and I had already said a berachah on it. In between all this, there was picking up gifts for birthday parties, spin class, dropping off at birthday parties, carpool for school, shopping for tzitzit and last-minute yom tov items, dealing with a tantrum or 12 from my fiery redheaded two-year-old (a lethal combo) Gavi, and other fun stuff.
The challah came out of the oven with the consistency of a brick. My heavenly whole-wheat challah (an attempt at being healthier and hiding it from my kids by using white whole-wheat flour) did not look heavenly at all.
Heartbreak.
Meanwhile, I was trying to apply makeup and get dressed for my friend’s son’s bar mitzvah. With a desperate look at Moshe, I said, “Please make sure the challah is gone by the time I get home. I can’t look at it.”
I’ve flopped in the kitchen more times than I’d like to admit. I think it goes with the territory. But there’s something about investing that time in challah-baking that just makes it all the more disappointing. It’s so meaningful, and for me, though I find myself baking more and more, I’ve never been a natural when it came to challah-baking. I push myself to do it for certain yamim tovim, so when I finally get around to it and it doesn’t come out in its fluffy, perfect form, I’m heartbroken.
To top it off, the second I took my sad-looking brown-brick challot out of the oven, my mother-in-law walked in the door and said, “Oh, those don’t look right.”
Hey, thanks.
I know everything happens for a reason. Maybe I missed an ingredient. Perhaps I put in too much or too little of something. The only thing to do is try again.
I’m glad to report that as we “speak,” my round braided challot are baking in the oven—again. But this time, I think we have a winner.
I decided to recreate a challah posted by Epicurious and use toppings that my family would love. The original used a variety of sesame seeds and pumpkin and flax seeds to cover a round challah, braided around a ramekin that would be filled with honey. I decided to go with cinnamon sugar, crumb topping, chocolate chips, and vanilla sugar for one type. The other type is covered in garlic, onion flakes, paprika with oil, and zaatar seasoning.
Variety is the spice of life, right?
Why is there a custom to make round challah on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah? There are a few insights. One may be because the round challah signifies a crown, and on Rosh Hashanah we coronate Hashem our King. Another reason is because like the round shape of our challot, the years are cyclical, and Rosh Hashanah is the start of our new year.
However you braid your challah—square, rectangle, or round—may it bring only simcha in the coming year.
My Favorite Challah Recipe
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp. active dry yeast
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 cup warm water
5 eggs
1 cup oil
1½ cups sugar
1 cup warm water
5-lb. bag high-gluten flour
2 heaping Tbsp. salt
2 cups boiling water
Crumb topping:
1 cup flour
½ cup oil
¾ cup sugar
Directions:
Combine first three ingredients to proof the yeast. To this mixture, add eggs, oil, sugar, water, flour, salt, and boiling water. Mix in challah machine (I use a Bosch) for seven minutes. Turn off and let the dough rest. Turn back on for additional five minutes.
Let the dough rise for a couple of hours.
Take hafrashah, shape challah, and proof challah in oven for 30 minutes at 200°F. Brush challah with egg wash (egg yolk, water, and scoop of vanilla sugar).
Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake until challot are done, about 30 minutes. v
Malkie Hirsch loves to cook and shares her ideas freely on her Facebook group, Kiss The Kosher Cook. What’s sweeter than sugar and with fewer calories? Hearing from her readers. Feel free to write with questions, comments, and suggestions to koshercook@5tjt.com.