This challah recipe was easy, but time consuming in terms of every time you change the formation of the dough at all (eg, separating into 6 balls, after plaiting) you had to leave it to rise again, as well as leaving things to cool. And the initial rising time is like 2 hours (!) which is fine if you have something else to do that takes 2 hours and you are a little bit experienced in making challah. Because I was preoccupied with getting the recipe right I couldn't really just leave it and come back later, but I'm sure next time I make it will be simpler.
The upside is that you get a damn huge loaf of bread. This loaf nearly didn't fit in my oven! And it lasted a couple of days with 4 hungry bread eaters in the house, which is saying something!
Challah
2 small potatoes, cubed
7g dried yeast
1/3 cup oil
2 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
2 tbsp honey
4 1/2 cups plain flour (it's meant to be sifted, but I can never be bothered and mine turned out fine)
1 extra egg yolk for egg wash (whisked with 1tbsp cold water)
poppy seeds or sesame seeds
1. Boil the potato in water until very soft, drain and reserve 1/2 cup of potato water and leave to cool. When cooled mash until super smooth.
2. Place the yeast in a small bowl with 1/2 cup warm water, leave in a warm place until foamy (I have a confession, yeast has never foamed for me. The best I have ever got is like 3 bubbles. Nevertheless, it's worked out okay for me!)
3. Beat the oil, eggs, egg yolks, honey, 1 1/2 tsp salt, the 1/2 cup of reserved potato water and the mashed potato together until smooth. Leave to cool and then add in yeast mixture, then gradually add in 2 cups of flour (again, beating until smooth). Add another 1 1/2 cups flour until a rough soft dough is formed (I had to use probably a couple of cups more flour than this, but I guess it depends on everyone... I just kept adding flour until it stopped sticking to my bench).
4. Knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and "satiny", adding flour as you need it. Place the dough in a well greased bowl and turn so the whole ball of dough is greased. Cover with glad wrap or a clean tea towel and leave in a warm place for about an hour and a half (or until doubled in size).
5. Turn the dough out and knead for 4 minutes, then divide into 1/3 and 2/3 sections. Divide each section into 3 equal balls, and leave for 10 minutes.
6. Roll the balls into ~35cm ropes, with the centre slightly thicker than the ends. Brain the three thicker ropes together and place on a floured baking tray, then brush with egg wash. Repeat with the smaller braids and place on top of the larger braid, brushing with egg wash again. Make sure the ends overlap and tuck them underneath so that they're neat. Leave for about 30 minutes or until about doubled in size. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
Sans egg wash... I totally forgot to do the egg wash until right before I put it in the oven, and forgot about seeds until
it had already been in the oven for a few minutes. :(
7. Brush the dough with egg wash again and sprinkle with seeds. Bake for 50-55 min or until golden brown.
I found that my loaf looked like it was approaching burntness, it was quite a dark brown, but it ended up being just right.
NOW EAT YOUR DELICIOUS LOAF.
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