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Amy Dow's Challah Circle

Rosh Hashana: A Challah Circle in West Palm Beach
By Liz Balmaseda | Dining | September 21, 201

Like the braided round of challah itself, a circle of women gathers in Amy Dow’s cozy kitchen for regular Friday morning bread-baking sessions. And like the challah, this circle nourishes not only the body, but also the spirit.

As the dough rises and rests, the friends dish. But first there’s a prayer. As Dow pinches off the first handful of dough and wraps it as a symbolic offering, she recites a blessing.

On this recent morning in Dow’s West Palm Beach kitchen, the extra sugar in the dough is also symbolic: As Rosh Hashana approaches next week, it’s a wish for a sweet new year.

The home bakers pinch handfuls of dough, roll them into thin logs and braid the logs into rounds or ovals, their hands moving in a ballet they’ve danced for six years now. What began as a group of mothers brought together by their preschool-age children has grown into a regular challah sisterhood that meets to bake loaves for Sabbath dinner.

Lisa Weisberg (from left), Elli Armstrong, Amy Dow, Myra Sherman, Jodi Stahl and Jackie Brant.
(Bill Ingram/The Palm Beach Post)

“Sometimes we have deep conversations, and sometimes we gossip,” says Dow, weighing a small mound of dough she’ll roll into a log.

Dow and her friends first learned to bake challah when their children attended the same preschool. “We made a mess, but we had a good time while the kids played,” says Dow.

A couple of years into their endeavor, they adopted an easier recipe (no proofing the yeast) from a rabbi’s wife. And when Dow invested in a nifty new mixer, baking challah became a cinch. Soon enough, the house would be filled with the aromas of baking bread. Bread so good it sometimes never made it to the Sabbath table.

“Sometimes I’ll bake the loaf when I get home, and as soon as it comes out of the oven, my husband’s standing there, ready to eat it,” says Jodi Stahl, a West Palm Beach preschool teacher.

But even after the last slice of bread is gone, the day’s conversation lingers. The chats have spanned births and bar mitzvahs, divorces and deaths. “My husband was alive when we first started baking,” says Lisa Weisberg. “He’s been gone now for four years.”

And just as the baking session begins with a gesture of charity, as coins are deposited in a small ceramic bank, it ends with one as well. Somebody always asks, “Who needs a loaf this week?”

FOOD FOR THE SPIRIT
Making challah is not simply a culinary act for Amy Dow and her baking friends. After the dough is mixed and risen, Dow pinches off a small piece, wraps it up and puts it in the freezer. The piece symbolizes the portion set aside for the kohen (priest) as a contribution.

Their baking sessions begin with this separation of dough and a blessing that’s read aloud: ‘Blessed are you, Lord our God, king of the universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to separate challah.’

THE WORD CHALLAH originally referred to the small piece that was broken off from the dough as an offering to the kohen (Jewish priest) of biblical times.

Challah Workshops With Amy Dow

Learning to make, braid and decorate Challah is so much fun. But the Mitzvah of Challah is much more. Have your group learn about this Jewish tradition with a hands on Challah Workshop. Click here.

The Mitzvah of Challah workshop with Amy Dow is for your students, for your family, for your group or club and for your temple. This activity is traditional, it's spiritual and it is really fun and tasty too. Read the flyer here.

AMY’S SWEET CHALLAH

This is the recipe West Palm Beach home baker Amy Dow uses when she hosts her challah-making group. She says the ingredients can easily be halved.

Makes 6 loaves

2 tablespoons salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
5 pounds of bread flour
1 whole egg, plus 4 yolks
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 tablespoons dry yeast
4 3/4 cups warm water
4 cups raisins, plumped in warm water and drained (optional)

Place all ingredients, except the raisins, in a mixer or large bowl in the order they are listed above.

Knead for 10 minutes. (the dough should be pliable, smooth and nonsticky when done. If sticky, add more flour.)
About 1 to 2 minutes before you’ve finished kneading, add raisins, if using. (If added to the dough too soon, the raisins will be crushed).

Lightly brush a large bowl with oil and place dough in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel, and let rise for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Once dough has risen, punch down to get our the air bubbles. Divide the dough into 6 parts for 6 large loaves.

Roll out dough and braid. (See NOTES.)
Place braided or shaped dough on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise for another 45 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350º.

Just before baking bread, beat 1 egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Lightly brush mixture on top and sides of loaves.
Sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds on top as desired.

Bake uncovered at 350º for about 30 minutes. When done, the challah should sound hollow when tapped with a wooden spoon at its base.

Place on wire rack to cool.

NOTES:
For Rosh Hashana, Dow adds another 1/4 cup of sugar to the dough, to make the bread sweeter for New Year celebrations.
If making round braided challah, pinch off 4 handfuls, about 4 1/2 ounces each, and roll each handful into a thin log shape. Braid the 4 logs into a circle by starting with the logs arranged in a tight tic-tac-toe board pattern. Then cross one log’s end over the adjacent log, and continuing around, first clockwise, then counterclockwise, etc. Pinch ends, and bring to middle before turning over (the top becomes the bottom). To make a spiral-shape loaf, roll dough into a log that is narrower on one end. Create a spiral shape with the log, tucking the end underneath. To make simple traditional loaf challah, pinch off 3 handfuls, roll and braid.