I finally found time to make Maggie Glezer's levain challah, the taste is amazing, rich, creamy and seems the longer it sits the sweeter it becomes. I didn't get the crumb I had tried to achieve but this is the first attempt. The dough was easy to work with and it worked great with my motherdough levain. It has a very unique taste which I think may be a result of the sourdough and the honey.

This has to be my favorite for a natural levain Challah. The yeasted version is PR's Challah in Crust & Crumb.

Maggie Glezer Challah (all four photos)

Crumb

Made these crown challahs today that have an apple butter filling.  Taste wonderful, but look like they exploded.  Any suggestions on what is causing this?  Too much oven rise?  How do I avoid that?  It is a woven loaf not a pull apart bread which it looks like.

The one on the left is what it should look like.  I made all of these and do not know why some look good and others look like they exploded.

Many challahs

Sharon

www.thebraidedloaf.com 

I am fairly new to baking, especially yeast breads, so I've joined this forum to meet people with the knowledge and experience to help me become a better baker.  I have taken an intro to baking class at culinary school, but I'm still a total novice at bread.

I plan to make a challah to serve on Monday, 9/29/08 for Rosh Hashanah.  The trouble I'm having is determining when to prep and bake my loaf.  I work all weekend and have an important event on Sunday night.  I have all day Friday, Saturday night (6:30-12:00), and about 1 hour very early Sunday morning free for baking.  If I prep and bake my challah on Friday, will it be good on Monday?  If I proof the dough on Saturday night and retard the shaped loaf in the fridge overnight, can I expect it to be ready to bake on Sunday morning?

I imagine many artisan home bakers nowadays have trouble finding a block of free time long enough to make bread, and I'm wondering how the rest of you manipulate the process to fit into your schedules.

Thank you,

Adam S.

I have been baking challah bread for about a year and am planning to make about 30 next weekend.  In order to bake a few a day ahead I have been looking into some natural products that extend the bread's shelf life.  Has anyone used dastatic malt powder in their yeast breads?  Does it really help keep it fresher longer?

I would love some input.

Sharon

www.thebraidedloaf.com

Enjoying a nice piece of challah with a slice of swiss cheese and fresh tomato slices from our garden toms. Was a bit ambitious yesterday and made chocolate almond biscotti and a challah. :) 

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