August 3, 2011 - 2:30am
Spelt challah and rolls
Spelt challah and rolls
A friend of mine cannot eat anything made with white flours (it's not the gluten it's the flour itself), so every now and then I bake a special challah with spelt flour for her.
Spelt flour is very low in gluten so no long-kneading. and less rising time is needed.
Actually you have to make sure the dough does not rise too much, otherwise it loses it's strength and the challah "falls down" in the oven.
Ingredients
370 g spelt flour4-5 g dry yeast
210 ml of warm fluids - I use a mix of vanilla soy mild + water
30 g light brown sugar or cane sugar
1 Tbs vanilla sugar (
¼ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons sunflower oil / canola oil (a little less than ¼ cup)1 teaspoon vanilla-pudding-powder (not instant)
You can check my post for more details and photos (translators are at the left top side-bar), and if you have any questions - please feel free to ask me(!)
Share
Comments
An all spelt loaf and Challah no less. I didn't even know it could be done. How does it taste? -Varda
Hi Varda :)
Thanks!
Actually it tastes very similar to a regular challah, but it has more delicate-gentle kind of taste.
As I wrote - I bake it especially for my friend and she loves it so much she doesn't let anyone have more than a bite.
It looks very, very nice, Winnish! Never encountered a challah with spelt. Is it your invention?
I do use spelt in small quantity to many of my bread, mainly to give complexity in the flavour, but never baked 100% spelt bread, precisely because you need extra care in kneading and proofing. I'm too scared....
So....... when are you going to come to UK with your challah, Winnish? ;)
best wishes,
lumos
Thank you lumos for such a nice comment!:)
In one of my challah-books (from which I get inspired) there is a recipe for rolls - made with spelt flour, and I said to myself - if it's o.k for rolls then why not for a challah? I adapted the recipe, made a few changes and it worked!
I just want to add that we have here what we call "regular-white-spelt flour", and also "whole-spelt-flour".
For challahs and rolls I like to use the regular one. I tried once using the other kind and didn't like it much.
Coming to the UK ?:)
That's sounds lovely now, and it's veryyyyyyyyyy hot and humid here.
BTW - I'm planning for onion-challahs for this weekend.....
Thanks again!
Winnie
Hi, Winnie, thanks for explaining.
Not sure if I can get white spelt flour here. I have a feeling most of spelt flour on sale for retails are wholemeal ones. Certainly three spelt flour I've used were all wholemeal.......Not that I'm in a hurry to make spelt challah myself. I haven't even managed to make a satisfactory regular challah, yet!
I think we can beat you on humidity in London today. It's more than mere humid.....it's wet...... Something we're very good at.:p
best wishes,
lumos
Hi lumos
Funny enough it's easier to get whole-spelt here as well. I don't understand why though....
Thanks again !) but I'm sure you can bake great plain challah :)
Yup - rain is not a problem for you.... I wish it was raining here :)
No, I couldn't. Really.... I'm guessing it was my braiding to blame. My challah always seem to come out with tighter crumb than I would like. Are you supposed to braid quite loosely?
Yeah, rain is good sometimes. No need to water your garden! :p
lumos
Yes, the braiding should not be tight (not like we women braid our hair) - you have to let some space for the douhg to rise while baking.
Rain...... mmmmm we don't have it enough through winter time, we forget what it is in the summer :)
I tried not to braid too tightly, but maybe it was still too tight. I'll try even it even looser next time. Thanks for the tip. :)
Re rain... One of my favourite episode.
When there was a cricket test match (I pasted the link, just in case, 'cause a lot of people outside old British Empire doesn't know what cricket is) in England many years ago, the weather was so bad (=typical English summer), a player from India asked an English player, "It rains here all the time. How do you know it's summer?" The English player replied, "It (=rain) gets warmer."
Hahahaha - I must tell this to my british cousins - they're gonna love it
Spelt can be tricky to work with and you've done a super job of making a very nice looking Challah for your friend. Well done!
Franko
Thank you Franko so much!!
Yet another lovely challah, Winnish. :)
Syd
Thank you Syd :) !
BTW I baked great onion-challahs for this weekend, and they were gone in seconds....