So Friday is the start of Rosh Hashanah and traditionally Challah bread is served. When served on a regular Sabbath evening these breads are plaited. The three braids represent: truth, peace and justice. The sprinkled seeds on top represent the manna that fell from heaven when the Israelites were roaming the desert at the time of Moses. For Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah the bread is served in a round loaf to symbolize continuity, since the bread has no beginning and no end.
So this weeks Monday Munchie would have to be Challah! This is what you are aiming for:
As tradition would have it we seem to celebrate lots of events with some sort of bread…
Let’s Meet The Players:
- 1 packet of dry yeast
- 2 tea spoons of sugar
- 1 1/4 warm water
- 4 1/2 all-purpose flour, we used bread flour
- 2 tea spoons of salt
- 2 eggs
- 2 table spoons of oil
- oil to brush bread
- sesame seeds to sprinkle
Let’s Play The Game:
Step 1: Add the yeast, sugar and 1/4 cup of warm water together. Let the mixture stand for five minutes.
Step 2: Use a large mixing bowl. Add your flour and salt together and make a well in the center.
Step 3: Do not get distracted by the help… Just in case you think I do the Monday Munchies all alone in a peace and quiet!
Else you might forget your yeast mixture:
Don’t worry it is still fine!!!
Step 4: Pop the yeast mixture, the eggs, the oil and the cup of warm water into the flour well.
Step 5:Mix all the ingredients together.
The mixture will form a ball of dough that you place on a table top and knead for about five minutes.
Until you have a smooth dough.
Cover it up in a lightly greased bowl, with a damp cloth, for about an hour.
Step 6: Then punch it down and let it rise again until it is double in size, for about two hours. In the same bowl with the damp cloth.
And your dough should be light and springy.
Step 7: Finally shape your bread into the shape you want, it needs to be round for Rosh Hashanah. Normally you would spiral it round: Roll your dough into a sausage and coil it into a round loaf… but I had a LOT of help with this project so we settled for round upon round. Let it rise again on the greased tray under the damp cloth. Rise until it has doubled in size again and that takes about an hour.
Finally we painted ours with a bit of oil and sprinkled sesame seeds on top.
Bake in the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (375 degrees Fahrenheit) for about 40 minutes. It should sound hollow when it is tapped underneath and be brown and crispy on top.
Splather it with honey and you are away – a yummy heart warming loaf!!!
This bread has a lot of waiting time – seriously start at lunch time to have it ready by sundown… but it makes a big loaf and it is totally divine and well worth the waiting and rising… We do have a recipe for the dough with our bread machine, which would have been much quicker, but sometimes it is better to step off the instant world and slow down a little and enjoy the process – We did!!!
Hope you enjoy it!
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