Sweet Challah for a Sweet New Year
Channel: Mailer's Landing
Date: 2021-09-05

::MWAH!:: Wishing a sweet year to you and yours in 5782. Shana tova! 


Growing, building and cooking in New England, zone 6b

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Music by Daily Mouse, 2003 (feat. Manifesto by Sou MacMillan, 2006 Lethe Press)


The Challah I make in the video is not my recipe*, it is Deb Perelman’s. Deb Perelman is a kitchen genius, and her recipe makes the most delicious challah I’ve ever produced in my kitchen. On her website, there are even beautiful photos of her method for braiding (mine is different and less pretty #goals) this sweet, round loaf traditional at the new year.
Fig, Olive Oil, and Sea Salt Challah from Smitten Kitchen.com - https://smittenkitchen.com/2012/09/fig-olive-oil-and-sea-salt-challah/
It's also in The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook -  https://smittenkitchen.com/books/ 

Notes:
This recipe holds up well when you change the filling up a little; I didn’t have figs to hand, so instead of fig paste, I used an apple preserve I made last year. Because of the pectin in apples, that preserve was closer to a jelly than a butter, and so the top appeared to be wet when in/just out of the oven - as the bread cooled, it jelled back up. Tl;dr - if you choose a filling that’s jiggly, it might look weird when it’s hot. 

I also added a handful each of raisins and small walnut pieces. I would advise you not to overpack on these should you choose to add them - the dough is stretchy, but it has its limits, which are lessened by moisture, natch. 

The only other changes I made were that I totally forgot to add finishing salt at the end, and instead of brushing the top of the loaf in a whole whisked egg, I used straight egg yolks, ‘cos I have them left over from making something that needed to be beaten into a stiff meringue… might’ve been pancakes? Also, I bet you could toss in a handful of those mini chocolate chips…

*SPOILER: I do not have a recipe