Rosh Hashanah Test Kitchen: Pumpkin Challah

Make sure to read the updated version of Pumpkin Challah here! 

We've actually made pumpkin challah before, though I've never blogged about it because we hadn't quite finalized the recipe. I'm in a fall mood with cool, tights-wearing weather, spicy foods, and the first of the early turning leaves. This past Friday, I had no commitments, so what better than a Rosh Hashanah Test Kitchen. Three families (plus us!) were the lucky winners of "Take some of my challah off my hands!

And now, I bring you Pumpkin Challah. I'm thinking this more of a Sukkot food, but heck, it seems great for Rosh Hashanah as well, especially with squash soups and herby chicken.

3/4 c water
2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
1 1/2 tbsp honey
1/4 c vegetable oil
3/4 c canned pumpkin
3-4 c flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon* *see note in recipe
pinch cloves
pinch nutmeg
(make sure you check the updated ingredient list!)

Mix water together with yeast and honey. Allow to rest for around 10 minutes or until yeast creates little eruptions. Add oil and pumpkin to yeast mixture and stir gently. Add flour and spices. (Note: Honestly, this challah was great, but I think it could stand a bit more sweetness. My friends who reviewed the loaves liked it, but they added jam on Shabbat morning. If you're planning on eating it plain, I would double the cinnamon content or perhaps add more honey/sugar. Knead by hand or with a stand mixer. Let dough rest in an oiled bowl until doubled in bulk


Punch down. Braid and let rest for additional half hour. Egg wash (I sprinkled a little cinnamon sugar on with the egg wash). This recipe yielded two smallish 5-strand braids and one round braid. (I'll post a how-to on the round braid next week.)

Bake at 350 for around 30 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 180-200 degrees.

Rosh Hashanah Test Kitchen

Lots of practice loaves this week means THREE NEW RECIPES coming after Shabbat. Stay tuned and Shabbat Shalom :)

PB&J Challah - DON'T DO IT!

So, I'm going to preface this whole post with three words.  DON'T DO IT!  No, well, that's not very nice.  Give it a shot.  Try it out.  Really, maybe you won't be as uber-disappointed as I was in the end result.  Because PB&J Challah was such an "eh..." I've put off the post.  I wasn't excited about the post because I was so unexcited about the end result of the bread.

In theory, it should be great, right?  We've done stuffed challah for Nutella, and the whole peanut butter-in-the-dough challah is tasty but really dry.  So, I combined the two ideas.  Three-stranded braid.  One peanut butter filled, one jelly filled, one just bread.

First of all, jelly = epic fail.  Maaaaaybe jam would work?  Maybe just fruit filled?  I don't know, but I ended up yelling to The Hazz in the living, "Help!" and having a goopy messy of fruity blob (descriptive, no?).   The peanut butter went in well.  But the baking result was so aaaaaaverage.  The peanut butter sort of turned into hard crusty... peanut butter crust?  The jelly disappeared almost entirely (I have no idea where it went) and the overall dough flavor was just off as a result.

It looks pretty but it was soooo blah!

I'm pretty sure PB&J Challah can be done.  I've seen mention of it on other websites, but never a method.  So, just DON'T DO IT!  (If you by some stroke of magic figure it out, by all means email me and you'll get a guest post FOR SURE!)

Shavua Tov, Chaverim!

View of Shabbat - September 9th

We also had macaroons... the good kind. :)

Shavua Tov!

I've got a post in the works for you, but The Hazz and The Mrs. are going on a date to the movies tonight, so it'll have to wait until tomorrow.

In the meantime, hop on over to check out a few beautiful versions of the Croatian Star that I've been meaning to link up...

Chaviva @ The Kvetching Editor

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner

Also, LeighAnn made Nutella Challah, which never gets old.

x

xxx

Single and Double Knots

Rolls!  I like rolls.  I like that you can freeze them, you don't gorge yourself (sooo easy to do), and they're just so freaking darling!  Here are two of my favorite shapes.

Basic Knot
This is my go-to roll shape.  Easy.  Works for filled loaves (Nutella... drool), and just looks nice overall.

Step 1 - Roll out a long strand.  bring side B over side A.
Step 2 - Loop B through and keep poking up just a bit.  Adjust with hands so it's nice and snug.

  

Double Knot
The double knot is such a lovely flower.

Repeat Steps 1 and 2 but leave a nice long tail for side A and leave a bit of room inside the knot for side A.

   

Step 3 - Bring end A up and into the roll, right snug next to B.

So, I didn't diagram for you the spiral, because... well, it's a spiral.  Also, I'm holding out on you all from showing you the single-stranded braid for rolls, because I haven't quite perfected it.  Stay tuned.

Shabbat Shalom from our bayit to yours!