My Ideal Challah

Hi everyone,

I've been lurking for a very long time, and have desperately been looking for a challah that is both moist but firm, a rich color and heavy fragrance with a tenderness that lasts into the day after I've baked it. I've loved reading many of the tips and recipes that I've come across on here, and using all of your help, I think I've found a great recipe. I used it for my Rosh Hashanah loaves this year, and didn't think to take any pictures, but will do so when I make this bread again for this coming Friday.

The recipe takes Hamelman's challah recipe from Bread as its base. I add 5 grams of vital wheat gluten to the 2 lbs of bread flour (I'm not wealthy enough to order the high-gluten flour the recipe calls for), and follow the remainder of the recipe fairly accurately, with the exception of adding 5.5oz of honey in place of the sugar, and use olive oil instead of the vegetable oil. I also use the SAF gold yeast for this bread since it's so enriched.

The resultant dough is surprisingly tacky since the hydration is quite a bit higher due to the honey, which also imparts a lovely fragrance to the final loaf. But after kneading (and continuing to knead after I think I'm done kneading) to produce a smooth dough, much of the tackiness has gone away.

SAF gold in this recipe is nothing short of a miracle--the dough rises surprisingly fast and high. I punched down twice (the dough only takes about 30 min to rise) which further helps develop gluten. After shaping, however, I let the dough rise for a nice, healthy hour to get a beautifully risen dough. Since the gluten is so well-developed, the dough doesn't rip, but forms lovely bubbles.

A long bake results in a dark brown loaf that remains moist throughout the weekend.

Like I said, I've only done this once, but next time I'll do it, I'll be sure to take pictures of the process and post them here!