She bakes three loaves almost every week - two for Friday night, and an extra for lunch on Saturday - sometimes freezing an extra ball of dough to use the following Friday. It’s really good.Ĭhallah is, as in many Jewish households, a staple of her family’s Shabbat dinner. And then I just pop them in the oven for 45 minutes, whatever it is, until they get golden brown. Put some oil on it, and let this rest for about an hour, until they’re a little bit fluffier. And then I just play around with whatever toppings I have. Just brush on the challah, and that just gives it the glistening glow. I like to do a little egg wash to get it really shiny. I use all of my skills from elementary school, braiding my friends’ hair, doing our little braiding circles, and that’s still my strategy for my bread.

And then the rest of it is for your family. The idea is you’re just supposed to not consume it, so I burn it, keep it in the oven for a long time.

So what I do, it’s actually a ritual, which is separating about an ounce of the challah. Punched it down, and then I gave it a second rising for another half an hour. Put it near a warm area to help move it along. And then I take a bowl, grease it up with my hands, put the dough inside. This is a very pleasant, meditative activity. Basically, all I’m doing is giving it a little fold and then a tuck. Try to wipe off all the fingers that just become very swamp creature. Use your challah-covered fingers to open the bag, and add a bunch more. It’s just the arm workout of the century. I start putting some in and combining it. I can’t do it with one hand, but I do my best. Then I dump the yeasty water in there, some salt, a bunch of sugar, four eggs. I like olive oil, because I love the taste. So once the yeasty concoction is bubbling, you start mixing in other wet ingredients. Whisk it together, and give it 15 minutes to start bubbling. Dump that in, and we put about a cup and 3/4 of warm water, not too hot. You need yeast, sugar, some lukewarm water, and some olive oil, five large eggs, salt, flour, fenugreek leaves and a little coriander. Bread is always an intimidating thing, but I make it from scratch, and if I can do it, you definitely can, too. I’m going to be baking homemade challah today. I’m a fashion designer, and I live in New York City. Transcript Cooking Class | Batsheva Hay The fashion designer shares a recipe for fluffy challah bread from her New York City apartment.

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