Challah

       This week I continued improving my bread baking skills by spending about five hours creating a delicious challah or egg bread. I used a recipe from The Il Fornaio Baking Book by Franco Galli. This dish was easier than I thought it would be with a very light and easily manipulated dough.  I had some problems with the presentation of the bread but the end product was delicious and rich.  

Kneading the dough 

Three strands ready to braid. 

The first step was to make a biga or starter, if you want more information on this piece, check out my first blog post. Once the biga spent 20 hours rising, I mixed flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl and created a well. Then I added eggs, oil, and biga to the well and began stirring with a spoon, working the dough until it was well mixed and sticky. At this point Galli recommends to, “ begin kneading the dough in the bowl (it will be quite sticky), keeping one hand clean in order to hold and turn the bowl and using the other hand to work the dough,” (Galli 77).  I quickly followed his instructions kneading the dough until it came together easily into a ball. Next, I let the dough rise for about one and a half  hours in a covered bowl. When I return the dough had about doubled in size. I carefully punch the air out with my fingertips before laying it out to rise for another hour.

Finished braid! 

Finally it was time to braid the dough. I divided the dough into three equal portions then following Galli’s advice, “Working with one portion at a time and using the palms of your hands, roll it into a “strand” about 12 inches long and 1 inch in diameter,” (Galli 77). I carefully rolled the three sections into strands then I began to weave  them together like one would  braid hair. The braid came together surprisingly easily and looked good once finished. I covered the braid and let it rise for another hour.

Unfortunately, in my rush I didn't think about covering the braids and once it has risen most the braid had stuck to the towel! The  braid design was completely ruined but I used an egg wash and baked it anyways. Although I didn't have the nice braided look, it tasted delicious.

Oops! The ruined braid. 

Next time I try this recipe I will be careful about covering the braid and perfecting my presentation. Have you ever baked a braided or woven bread before? Have you ever enjoyed one? Let me know in the comments below.

Final product.