BRAIDING CHALLAH RECIPES

Steps:

• 1. Place the dry ingredients in a large bowl with 1½ teaspoons sea salt, stir to combine then make a well in the centre.
  2. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and beat. Next, pour in 1½ tablespoons of oil and 350ml water into the well and add most of the beaten egg (saving a little for egg washing later). Mix with a fork, then bring together with your hands to form a ball.
  3. On a lightly dusted surface, knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and springy. Be careful not to add too much flour here to prevent the dough drying out.
  4. Place in a large oiled bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
  5. To braid your challah, divide the dough into two balls. Put one aside covered with a damp tea towel and cut the other ball into 4 even pieces. Roll each piece into a thin sausage-shape, roughly 60cm long.
  6. Place two of the strands next to each other vertically. Weave the remaining two strands horizontally over and under the vertical strands to form a cross shape.
  7. Working with the top pair of strands, take the strand that is underneath and place over the strand next to it. Do the same with the next pair of strands and continue this around the cross. Once all four pairs have been crossed over, do the same in the reverse direction – clockwise/anti-clockwise depending on your strands. The rule to go by is to always place the underneath strand over its pair.
  8. Continue this process until you have used up the dough. As you start to run out of dough tuck the ends under the loaf to form a neat braided ball. Place on a lined baking tray.
  9. Repeat the braiding technique with your second ball of dough.
  10. Cover both loaves loosely with a damp tea towel and leave to rise for a further 30 minutes. Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4.
  11. Use the remaining egg to glaze the challah. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds and bake for 40 minutes, or until golden. Adding extra egg wash halfway, if needed.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water.
• Whisk oil into yeast, then beat in 4 eggs, one at a time, with remaining sugar and salt. Gradually add flour. When dough holds together, it is ready for kneading. (You can also use a mixer with a dough hook for both mixing and kneading.)
• Turn dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth. Clean out bowl and grease it, then return dough to bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour, until almost doubled in size. Dough may also rise in an oven that has been warmed to 150 degrees then turned off. Punch down dough, cover and let rise again in a warm place for another half-hour.
• To make a 6-braid challah, either straight or circular, take half the dough and form it into 6 balls. With your hands, roll each ball into a strand about 12 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide. Place the 6 in a row, parallel to one another. Pinch the tops of the strands together. Move the outside right strand over 2 strands. Then take the second strand from the left and move it to the far right. Take the outside left strand and move it over 2. Move second strand from the right over to the far left. Start over with the outside right strand. Continue this until all strands are braided. For a straight loaf, tuck ends underneath. For a circular loaf, twist into a circle, pinching ends together. Make a second loaf the same way. Place braided loaves on a greased cookie sheet with at least 2 inches in between.
• Beat remaining egg and brush it on loaves. Either freeze breads or let rise another hour.
• If baking immediately, preheat oven to 375 degrees and brush loaves again. If freezing, remove from freezer 5 hours before baking. Then dip your index finger in the egg wash, then into poppy or sesame seeds and then onto a mound of bread. Continue until bread is decorated with seeds.
• Bake in middle of oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until golden. Cool loaves on a rack.