Auntie Sally’s Challah – the recipe, the whole recipe, and nothing but the recipe
There were originally two parts to this post: a rant and a recipe. But I split it because I want to keep this blog more or less on topic – if only to demonstrate that I really CAN stay on-topic. Really, I can!
Click here for the story behind the recipe or some of the snarky comments may leave you wondering.
Auntie Sally’s Challah Recipe (update: now in metric!)
- 8 cups of flour = 1120g
- 1 cup of sugar + 1 tsp for proofing yeast = 200g (+ 1 tsp!)
- 1 cup of oil = 220g
- 1 tsp salt = 4.8g
- 5 eggs, divided: 4 for the challah, 1 white for the challah, 1 yolk reserved for painting the challahs at the end
- 4 tsp yeast = 24g
- 2 cup of water, divided: 1 cup (240g) to proof the yeast, 1 more (240g) “if you need it.”
- Krishkelach = what I generally call streusel; a floury, sugary, oily concoction to sprinkle on top at the end. Or sesame seeds. Sesame seeds are okay. Poppy seeds are WRONG. Bzzzt!
Steps – roughly, as she described them to me:
- Mix yeast, 1 cup water, 1 tsp sugar in a bowl and allow to proof for 15 minutes. I may do this step out of sentimentality, even though I’m aware that my yeast – the same one she uses – no longer needs proofing.
- Mix – and here, a food processor is WRONG. Mixing by hand is the ONLY way. I assured her my food processor only holds 5-cup recipes or smaller, so her challah will be forever hand mixed. My sister Sara helpfully suggested the folly of hand-mixing when dealing with batches in the realm of hundreds of kilos.
- Cover with a towel. Plastic wrap is WRONG. The French word for a bread-covering towel is couche, which also means “diaper” despite certain French-speaking members of my family begging to differ. (couche (f) = n. layer; coat (as of paint); nappy, diaper)
- Let rise fully once, then fold down and return to bowl.
- Let rise fully a second time, then fold down and return to bowl.
- After the second rise, form the challahs, sprinkle with the aforementioned krishkelach (NO POPPY SEEDS!) and bake. What temperature? No clue! I’d assume 350° for however-long. Probably 30-45 minutes, depending on the size of the loaves.
Again, to read the rest of the post and get more of a sense of who Auntie Sally is, click here.
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