Lemon Poppyseed Challah

This past weekend, I attended a wedding of a friend's younger sister.  One of her bridesmaid, it turned out, is a reader of The Challah Blog (hi, Lizzie!).  She has been making the challah recipe of my friend Hannah (mom of these cute challah helpers) and started talking about a challah blog she enjoys -- mine!  My first non-hometown fan that I got to meet in real life!

Anyway, Lizzie suggested I make a Lemon Poppyseed Challah.  So, I complied.  Here it is!  Just for you, Lizzie.  Tell me what you think!

I've used lemon twice before in my challah, and one thing I've struggled with is the balance of enough lemon flavor and enough sweetness. I think this is my best balance yet of sweet and tangy.

1/2 c water
1 1/2 tsp active dry or instant yeast
1/2 tsp plus 1 tbsp sugar
1 egg plus 1 more for egg wash (you can also reserve a bit and just use one)
2 tbsp neutral oil such as canola or vegetable
2 c bread flour
1/2 tsp salt
zest of about 3/4 of a lemon, finely chopped
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp poppyseeds

For the frosting...

1/2 c powdered sugar
2-3 tbsp milk, unflavored soy milk, or non-dairy substitute
1/4 - 1/2 tsp vanilla, to your taste

This is a low yield recipe, because it's really different. I figure, you'll probably want to pair it with something more traditional or bake it as special morning treat. Yield is 2 quite small loaves or 1 smallish loaf with a few rolls.

Proof your the yeast in warm but not hot water with 1/2 tsp sugar.  While the yeast is proofing, zest your lemon and squeeze out the lemon juice.  When the yeast is foamy (about 10 minutes), mix in the egg, oil, zest, and juice.  Mix with a wooden spoon.  Add the flour, salt, and poppy seeds.

Mix by hand or on a stand mixer until a the ball holds together. Knead as normal. This dough is a bit wetter than most of your doughs and may feel heavier, but it should not feel sticky. Place in an oiled bowl and let rest until doubled in size, about an hour and a half.

When the dough has doubled, punch down and braid as normal.  I chose to make one six-stranded braid and four rolls (so we could do some sampling).

Let rest an additional thirty minutes. Egg wash and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, turning halfway. While your challah bakes, you can make the drizzle frosting if you like. Since these were just for noshing, I made the frosting dairy, however non-dairy milk will work just fine. (This will probably make you too much frosting, but you can always use on cookies! Yum!)

Drizzle the frosting over your challah with a teaspoon and admire your handy work!

Thanks so much to Lizzie for not only reading my blog, but making a request and inspiring me to make this delicious treat! It's definitely a keeper. Shabbat Shalom from our bayit to yours!

Lemon and Lavender Scented Challah

Garden Season continues!  The basil, thyme, and sage are going crazy.  The tomatoes are starting, and the peppers are gaining color.  When we first planted our garden, I added a little lavender plant.  One year later, the plant has increased in size probably ten-fold and I've never used it for anything.  Time for that to change.

Most lavender recipes out there are for fresh or dried lavender flowers.  I had a great time exploring all sorts of different recipes and information links here, here, and here.  I ultimately decided that I wanted to use various Lemon Lavender muffins as an inspiration.  I've used lemon once before, although the result wasn't very successful.  Last time, I used so much lemon juice that the dough was extra soft, and the lemon scent was overpowering.  This time, I decided to pair the lavender leaves with the zest of a lemon.  Additionally, I added quite a bit of sugar to this recipe and used warmed milk instead of water to proof the yeast.  I think the yeast may have under-proofed a bit, because my resulting challah was dense, almost like a tea biscuit... which was really my goal.  This is the kind of challah that I want to slather with lemon curd and serve with Earl Gray tea.

1/2 c milk (I used skim)
1 tsp active dry or instant yeast
1/4 c plus 1/4 tsp sugar
1 egg (split, I beat it then used "most" in the dough)
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
Zest of half of 1 lemon
Leaves of 1 sprig of fresh lavender

I based this recipe off of my REALLY Small Batch Challah, as I did earlier this month with Strawberry Basil Challah.  One small-size loaf.

Finely chop the lavender.  Place lavender and milk in a small sauce pan on the stove and warm.  Add the yeast and 1/4 tsp sugar.  Let rest for about 10 minutes.  Add the egg, rest of the sugar, and lemon zest.   Add the flour and salt.

Knead with a dough hook on 2 or by hand until the dough holds together as a ball.  {You can see how small this batch is here.}

Cover and place in a covered, oiled bowl. Let rise until doubled bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. As I said, the dough didn't seem to really rise... but I just went with it.  Braid as normal.

The Hazz also made me a little "A," perfect for a pre-Shabbat sampling...

Let rest for about a half hour. Egg wash with the reserved egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 180 degrees.

I love this challah. It's surprising. It smells like tea time. It just feels fancy. I'm calling it a success. Can't wait for more challah from the garden throughout this summer.

Shavua Tov, from our bayit to yours!!!