Attempting To Make Challah – Inspired by Smitten Kitchen

Last week when I found out I would be cooking for Rosh Hashana (my sister changed plans on me), I decided i wanted to try and make something different.  One new recipe would be good.  As I started to search around I made my way over to Smitten Kitchen.  She always has something interesting going on and I was right.  There was a recipe for what I thought was Olive and Fig Challah.  I was very inspired since I love Olive Bread! (especially from Arthur Avenue)  When I went back for a second look to check on the ingredients, I realized it said Olive OIL and Fig Challah!  I already had olives on the brain so I was just going to have to make some adjustments.

I definitely had a bunch of mishaps along the way so hopefully you will learn from my mistakes and try it on your own.  My daughters decided to help out – starting with my younger one.

Tip:  If you get your kids to help and they are cracking the eggs, have them do it in a separate bowl and not directly into the mixer in case there are shells that need to be picked out.

Proofing the yeast – I think this is where my first mistake happened.  The recipe said proof for a few minutes until it gets a bit foamy but apparently mine proofed for VERY few minutes because I don’t think the dough ever rose – or just barely.

My daughter’s favorite part is adding (or playing with) the flour.

“Mom, one day I want to take a bath in flour.  That would be so fun.  For real!”

Kinda looks like she already did!!

You are then to mix the ingredients together with the paddle attachment until just combined and then switch to the dough hook for 5 to 8 minutes.

When it was time to roll out the dough, my older daughter volunteered her services.  We split the dough in half and each went at it.

This is where I changed the recipe a bit and took a shortcut.  Instead of using dried figs, cooking them down, etc (which sounded really good) we just so happened to have a jar of fig preserves in the fridge.  So, I used whatever was left (which wasn’t very much)

This is where my next mistake happened.  I didn’t roll the dough tight enough and it came out too short.

To satisfy my olive urge, on the second half I used olive tapenade – another item I don’t usually have but for some reason did last week.

This time I rolled it tighter and I stretched as I rolled.  This seemed to make a big difference in the length.

At this point we were supposed to cut each roll in half and get ready to braid for a round Challah.  During holiday times you’re  supposed to have round Challah instead of the traditional longer one.  That just wasn’t going to happen here since there was such a drastic difference in length.  So, I cut the olive log in half and just did a traditional braid.  It was pretty messy with the fig roll but I worked with it.  After applying an egg wash and letting it rise again (mine didn’t) it was time to bake.

My last mistake was I let it cook a few minutes too long and it got browner than it was supposed to.  But all in all, I thought for  my first time making Challah, it didn’t look too bad.

I loved seeing the swirls and layers of olive and fig.  And, it ended up tasting really good!  A bit dense, but good.  I like how it had the salt and sweet going on together.

Have you ever baked bread before?  if not, would you give it a try?

You can get the original recipe for Olive Oil and Fig Challah over on the Smitten Kitchen site.

Have a good weekend!