February’s Fresh From The Oven Challenge – Braided Challah Bread

I do love making bread its such a satisfying process. For anyone who hasn’t yet had the pleasure I do strongly recommend signing up for Fresh from The Oven. Every month you get to make something wonderful, it’s not stressful, the recipes aren’t overtly overcomplicated or laden with hard to find ingredients & hours spent trawling supermarket aisles. It’s inexpensive, most of the ingredients are already in the kitchen cupboard & it pushes baking beyond the everyday loaf. Baking bread is such wholesome pursuit, a truly pleasurable way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I always come out of it with a great feeling of achievement. This months recipe came from Dom of Belleau Kitchen, it’s a recipe reminiscent of his childhood growing up in North London where Friday nights were more about the tradition of family & food rather than the religious concept of the sabbath. He offers a beautiful insight into how Challah in varying forms has been ever-present through his life. That’s just one of the lovely things food blogging communities provide: an insight into the varied contributors relationship with food.

225ml Whole milk, luke warm
50g Butter
1 tsp Clear honey
7g Dried yeast
450g Plain flour
1 tsp Salt
2 Eggs
1 tbsp Sesame seeds

1x Baking sheet lined with parchment

Pre-heat your oven to 190˚C (375˚F or gas mark 5)

Place the butter & milk in a small pan, heat gently stirring from time to time until all the butter has melted. Allow to cool until luke warm before adding the yeast & honey, stir then leave to stand for 15 mins. Mix the flour & salt together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the centre, add the yeast mixture plus 1 of the eggs, lightly beaten. Stir well until the mix comes together to form a sticky dough. Turn out on to a well floured work surface & knead till the dough is smooth & elastic this should take about 15 mins. Transfer the dough the clean bowl, cover with lightly oiled clingfilm before placing in a warm spot to prove 1.5 hours.

Knock back the dough before dividing into 3 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a sausage shape of roughly the same length & thickness. Lay 1 strip in the centre of the lined baking sheet with the other 2 crossing it diagonally forming a X in the middle. Plait from the middle outwards, pinch the ends together before tucking them under. Cover with a clean tea towel before transferring to a warm place to rise for a further 30 mins.