This is the most exciting bread I've baked so far!
It looked magnificent when it came from the oven, dark and burnished, with ceremonial lumps and bumps, the loaf had doubled in size. I had to keep going in the kitchen to look at it, all the while I was waiting for it too cool down!
The video is excellent for showing techniques. I learned the following:
- this is a very wet mixture (I used the full quantity of water suggested in the recipe), I need to buy a dough scraper to help manage such a loose dough!
- a new kneading technique, using the ball of the hand to push the dough away from you (stretching it as you do) and then folding the dough back over itself. This helps the gluten to form long chains or layers.
- using the gluten window to assess whether your dough has been kneaded enough. To do this, take a small piece of dough and stretch it. When the dough is ready, enough gluten chains will have formed so that you can stretch the dough until it is almost see-through (the "window").
- the art of braiding the dough to get the height of the loaf.
- creating the strands of dough for braiding. This is done almost lovingly in the video! It's quite a gentle (although fast) process which is designed to encourage the chains of gluten to form lengthways along the grain of the strand.
This bread smells delicious while it is baking, quite light and sweet, very different to a wholemeal loaf (which smells very wholesome and full of wheaty goodness) or a chilli and cheese loaf (a brute)!
The texture is light and airy, far more and much larger air pockets than brioche, for example, another enriched loaf. It's very moist and can be eaten just as it is (or with butter, of course, if necessary :)). It can easily be torn into pieces for eating with soup and stews or sliced neatly for sandwiches and toast.
I was pleased with my first attempt, but this would be a great bread to use for a challah boot camp - I'm sure after a few days practice the braiding would be perfect!
The burnishing isn't quite as dark as it shows here :) it has a very rich taste, almost like chocolate. I was so surprised at the way the loaf doubled in size, my heart lifted! It was a very hot oven, about 220 degrees centigrade for about twenty minutes, on the top shelf, on a lined baking tray (not in a cast iron dutch oven).
I made two small rolls with some of the dough - shaping it into a long strand and then tieing in a simple knot. They look very effective and I was pleased when I tore into one that the texture was just like in the video. One of the advantages of rolls is that they cool much quicker than the larger loaf, so you can get to taste them so much sooner.
This is a great bread for tearing and sharing, it would be lovely to have on the table for a family feast and everyone could help themselves.
Here's a close up of one of the torn strands. You can see how the gluten chains have formed along the length of the strand. I used Marriage's strong white bread flour.
In case anyone is worried about my potatoes from last week, which ended up in the garage wrapped up against the low temperatures (potatoes like it about 60 degrees fahrenheit and above):
I did manage to sort out the front porch and moved the pots into the light and warmth:
I've started putting them outside during the day and the little shoots are just starting to break through the first layer of compost. When they get to about two inches high, I'll add another layer of compost. That encourages tubers to form at multiple layers along the stem, rather than just at the layer at the top of the compost.
#breadbakers hosted by @akipponn at @breadbakers
Source of shared Link
Yum! Looks great.
Tastes good, too :)
Haha at first I thought you had a kitchen disaster @shanibeer and burn the whole thing lol but yea these challah look so delicious this is one bread we didn't get round to making.
Yeah, it does look very dark, doesn't it? 😂
It was surprisingly easy, although there is obviously skill in the braiding.
It's a very delicious bread as well.
I need this bread!!!! I have never accomplished a yeast bread with this stringy dough. Does the video provides the recipe? If not, what recipe did you use?
ANd with the dough scraper, I bought a simple one, because the dough of Geisslers breads is also very wet and I found it hard to get the dough from my hands 😂
You do! If you click "source of shared link" at the bottom of the post, it will take you to the page which has the recipe and the method, as well as the video. I found the video so helpful for technique. I forgot the precise sequence for the braiding and next time my strands will be longer and thinner to get the full effect, but anyway, just seeing how to manage the braiding was very helpful. I used strong bread flour made from Canadian wheat which I think has the highest protein and is the best for those stringy lengths of bread.
Arghhh no bread for me right now, as my father is back in hospital. But I hope I will remember your post/recipe. I reaaalllly love the stringyness and always wondered how to achieve this. Now I only have to find „strong flour“. Near me are only supermarkets which stock ‚normal‘ flour. Perhaps the organic market will have something like this :-D
I'm so sorry to hear about your father.
There will be time for breadmaking 😊
That bread looks pretty tasty.
I hear it's very nice for French toast, too. I might try some for breakfast - that's if there is any left!
That looks gorgeous and I have never tried Challah.....my Mum used to make braided loaves but just plain, or at least I assume they were, I will ask her next time. I hate these posts! They just make me miss having a decent kitchen even more!
Plain white loaves braided would be very nice, too. I remember admiring them when I was small, we only ever got a split tin or farmhouse loaf. I could do with getting some proper loaf tins, I'll put them on the list with my dough scraper and the thing to make the slashes in the top of baguettes.
I thought you did do baking?
I have one non-circulating stand alone oven which seems to decide it's own temperature! Its a nightmare. everything here is standalone. I've actually been learning local dishes on one ring but to be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Thai food. It's such a mix of flavours in one dish and for me, is just a mish-mash !
However, I do make variations of fried rice like a pro, Tom Yum Kung, in fact everything with prawns and shrimps as a friend of ours has a ...shrimpery? They farm prawns for export to Taiwan and so "no formhaldahyde so very fresh..eat quick". As K.Poon told me! Either way, we get a kilo or two every couple of weeks of the king sized ones so the shelling and deveining skills are coming on a treat!
We are still deciding whether to buy a small house here near Bangkok or build on Samui...until this is finally decided, my nice kitchen and baking will have to wait! I so miss my ice cream and coffee shop where I made all my own cakes and brownies and things to sell...we will see!!
What I would say though is that baking is different here, you have to get used to the flours and the baking powders and soda. The also use 'cups' and fluid ounces....lots of trial and error needed!!
I think all ovens are like that! This one is, and the one I had in London was the same. I preferred the old gas stoves, I should have brought the one from my previous house. It had a separate eye level grill and plate rack, too, so sensible. There was a "new" "fitted" kitchen here, so I left it.
Actually, I'm looking forward to getting a new kitchen. My sister came round while she was in Leicester to advise me about walls coming down and such like (she's a carpenter) and it seems it's all do-able. It would so nice to have something a little bigger with more light rather than the poky little almost cupboard I have now, especially as I do so much cooking and baking.
Where was your coffee shop? It sounds lovely!
Looks like a great bread, I have wanted to try making challah for years. Will have to try this soon!
It was a lot easier than I imagined.
Would love to see your attempts 😊
If I make some next week, I will post!
😍💕
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You cook your bread hotter then I roast my coffee! I start at 215 degrees, which drops to just over 100 degrees with 5kg of cold raw coffee in - 13 minutes later it’s back at around 195 degrees and ready to cool!
It looks super white and fluffy inside, fascinating post I have friends and relatives that bake bread but have not tried myself.
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