Adi Chaham week 15- My Challah Baking Journey

    Ever since I was placed into the challah baking minimester class two weeks ago, I have for some unknown reason become obsessed with the baking and of course, the eating of challah. If I’m being completely honest, I’m not sure why. After all, I ended up throwing all of the dough out to the garbage and didn’t even end up baking it. But, from that week of minimester, I decided that every Friday from then on, I would be making challah instead of having one of my parents go to the store and buy one. But, my challah baking journey wasn’t as smooth as I’d hoped. 

So, that Friday, the week of minimester Friday, I took the recipe Mrs. Joseph gave and made the challah. Everything went great (even though the dough was annoying) the entire time. The only thing that was a bit annoying was the amount of dough it made. IT MADE SO MUCH! I mean this was sort of my fault since I saw the recipe and decided not to cut it in half but for a family of four people who live in the house, the recipe gave way too much challah. Overall, the challah turned out to be really yummy but we did end up throwing some out because there was so much left over. With this going relatively well, I decided to continue with my challah baking journey.

 Last Thursday, I decided to mish-mesh two recipes together while also cutting the recipe in half, fixing the mistake I made last time. So, I made the “perfect” recipe and began the baking. I put the amount of yeast needed and took my boiling water and placed it in the bowl with the yeast. It was at that moment I knew I messed up. The second I did this I was like, I don’t think I did this right but, I kept on going. After I finished putting the ingredients together, I told my mom the mistake I thought I made and she said, “yep that’s a problem but, it might be ok”. You guessed it, it wasn’t ok. After kneading the dough and waiting for the challah to rise, I placed it into the oven. Between 30-40 minutes had passed and the dough was still very raw and doughy on the inside. I was disappointed but not surprised. I tried baking it for longer but all it did was make it even more burnt on the outside while the inside stayed the same. 

I wasn’t gonna give up though. I had told myself I was gonna make challah and so Friday afternoon, when I got back from school, I started making the challah again. I followed my recipe except for one little part where instead of putting 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, I put 1 tablespoon of salt. I didn’t think too much of it and for some odd reason thought, if anything, there will be too much salt. There wasn’t too much salt. It turned out to be super not salty and very bland. The most disappointing part was that other than that, the challah turned out to be super airy, fresh, not burnt and overall, in my opinion, pretty good. 

This Friday, I will be continuing my challah journey and hopefully get it right this time! 

Do you like baking? Do you enjoy homemade challah or store-bought challah more?



Comments

  1. AnonymousFeb 15, 2022, 10:51:00 AM

    I really enjoy cooking, especially when it ties into my family history and culture. I think baking specifically is a really enjoyable and relaxing experience, so I really love it. Baking Challah is not something I do often, but when I do, it's a great experience, and perfect for Shabbat.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Michael HakimFeb 15, 2022, 12:04:00 PM

    I love baking, and I enjoy homemade challah the most. I expect you to bring me some challah to school!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Atara BerkowerFeb 15, 2022, 6:48:00 PM

    I will need to try your recipe! I am sure you will get the salt right this week and your challah will come out perfect. I make challah with my mom on Thursdays for Shabbat and it always come out good.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFeb 16, 2022, 10:27:00 AM

    I agree with Michael that homemade Challah tastes better than store-bought Challah. I have wanted to bake a Challah before, but it takes a lot of time and effort that I did not want to spend. Hopefully, you will have perfected your Challah baking process this week!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousFeb 16, 2022, 7:02:00 PM

    I like to bake a lot because my family does it all the time for holidays or special occasions and it brings up a lot of memories for me. I even got a cookbook over Hannukah to keep all of my recipes. I love to make a white chocolate challah that my cousin loves, but it does take a while and is easy to mess up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMay 12, 2022, 10:45:00 AM

    Home-made challah is much better than store-bought challah. I love baking, but unfortunately i'm terrible at it. However, my love for baking still lives on.

    ReplyDelete

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