ROBERT SABBAN| Palm Beach Daily News
A group of 15 women gathered in Rebbetzin Dinie Scheiner’s kitchen for a hands-on class in baking Sabbath challah a few weeks ago.
She began with two recipes — one for Decadent Challah and another using whole-wheat flour. The ingredients were combined into smooth balls and left to rise at room temperature.
As she mixed the dough, Scheiner explained many rituals associated with preparing for the Sabbath meal. In the days of the temple in Jerusalem, a portion of the bread baked for the Sabbath was given as tithe for the Kohen, or priests. Since there is no longer a temple, 1 ounce of the dough is separated from the rest. As prayers are said, that portion is wrapped in foil and either discarded or burned over a flame.
Rosanne Sehayik came to Scheiner’s class to experience the spiritual side of baking challah. Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, she is a Florida Culinary Institute graduate and an experienced baker. The class offered her several new recipes and ingredients to add to her repertoire.
“I lost my father last July and promised myself to bake challah in his honor every Shabbat,” Sehayik said.
Antonella Leventhal grew up in Milan, Italy. Her mother was an excellent cook but all of the bread they ate came from the neighborhood bakery. She started baking Sabbath challah when she came to this country.
The practical gourmet aspects of the class were of special interest to Leventhal. She had always had problems with whole wheat challah — her loaves would come out bitter and tough — but after using Scheiner’s five-egg recipe, her loaves were no longer bitter and had a soft texture.
She bakes five challahs at a time, twice a month, and freezes several to use in between. She wraps the loaves that go into the freezer in two layers of foil and one layer of plastic wrap. She takes the bread out of the freezer to defrost for about an hour and warms it in the oven for about 10 minutes.
Ayelet Matheson brought her 4-month-old daughter Avigail to the class. Matheson tries to make time every week to bake challah for the Sabbath. She says her husband loves the bread she bakes. For her, the ritual is a powerful Jewish experience.
Matheson is part of a recent custom in Jewish communities where a group of 40 women devote their prayers — while separating challah — to offer extra blessings to anyone who is ill or recovering from illness, to those who are in the quest to find a worthy mate, to those who are trying to have a child and those women waiting for a child to be born.
For the following Sabbath, Matheson baked the Decadent Challah for her husband.
She added chocolate chips to the recipe and said he just loved it.
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RECIPES
Always Successful Challah
¦ 8-9 cups flour
¦ 1/4 to 1 cup sugar (to your taste)
¦ 1 tablespoon salt
¦ 2 ounces active dry yeast
¦ 21/2 cups lukewarm water
¦ 1/2 cup canola oil
¦ 5 large eggs
¦ 1/4 cup raisins (optional)
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For Pecan Surprise variation, mix by hand:
¦ 1/3 cup canola oil
¦ 1 cup brown sugar
¦ 11/2 cups chopped pecans
¦ 1 teaspoons cinnamon
Mix together 21/2 cups flour with sugar, salt, yeast (no need to dissolve first), water and oil. Mix in 4 eggs. Beat in 11/2 cups flour, then add 4 to 5 cups flour until a very soft dough is formed. Add raisins. Knead. Separate into loaves. Refrigerate overnight. In the morning, let the dough warm to room temperature, 1 to 2 hours. Shape dough. If you are making a braided challah, divide the dough into four equal pieces. Take one piece and cut into three equal parts. Roll dough into ropes then braid the ropes to form a challah.
If you are making Pecan Surprise, flatten one strand of dough for each challah and fill it with two to three tablespoons of the pecan mixture; roll up into a rope. Let rise for 5 minutes and braid as usual.
Let the loaves rise, covered for 30 minutes to an hour. Make egg wash by beating 1 egg. Brush on challah. Bake in a preheated 325-degree oven for 30 minutes and bake another 30 minutes in a 350-degree oven.
Yield 4 medium-size challahs.
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Dinie’s Whole-Wheat Challah with Sesame Seeds
¦ 4 (1-ounce) packages rapid-rise yeast
¦ 2 cups lukewarm water
¦ 2 tablespoons sugar
Combine yeast and water in a small bowl, then add sugar and cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm area.
¦ 8 cups King Arthur whole-wheat flour
¦ 8 cups King Arthur bread flour or white whole-wheat flour
Combine the flours in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center.
Mix together:
¦ 5 to 6 large eggs, lightly beaten
¦ 1 cup honey (or 1/2 cup brown or white sugar)
¦ 3 heaping tablespoons kosher or sea salt
¦ 1/2 to 1 cup canola oil
¦ 2 cups warm water
For the sesame egg wash:
¦ 1 large egg, beaten
¦ 1 tablespoon canola oil
¦ 1/2 cup sesame seeds
Place all of the liquid ingredients in the flour well. Knead the mixture well for about 5 minutes. If the dough is sticky, add a bit more flour and knead with greased hands. The dough should be smooth and very soft, but workable. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let the dough rise in a warm place for approximately an hour, until the dough doubles in volume. Place the dough on a floured board and knead for a few minutes. It is best to work with greased hands, since the dough is very soft. Shape into 4 to 6 loaves and place in a pan. Cover and let them rise again in a warm place for approximately an hour, until the dough doubles in volume.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake until challahs turn dark brown. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 6 challahs.
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Gluten-Free Challah
¦ 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
¦ 1/2 cup lukewarm water
¦ 1 tablespoon sugar
¦ 2 cups brown rice
¦ 1 cup potato starch
¦ 2 teaspoons Xanthan gum
¦ 1 teaspoon salt
¦ 1/4 cup canola oil
¦ 13/4 cups water
¦ 1 teaspoon vinegar
¦ 1 large egg
¦ 2 egg whites
Combine yeast and warm water with sugar in a large bowl and let it bubble. Add all other ingredients in a bowl and knead until thoroughly combined. Shape into loaves and place in a well-oiled loaf pan. Allow to rise until double in size.
Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven until light brown and firm on top and bottom.
Makes 2 loaves.
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Apple Challah
¦ 2 ounces active dry yeast
¦ 1/2 cup lukewarm water
¦ 3 large eggs
¦ 1/3 cup canola oil, plus extra for oiling and for topping
¦ 2 1/2 teaspoons table salt
¦ 1/2 cup sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
¦ 5 cups bread flour
¦ 1 cup warm water
¦ 3 large or 4 medium baking apples cut in 1/2-inch pieces
Combine yeast and water and let it rest in a warm place for 20 minutes.
Whisk the eggs, oil, salt, sugar, and yeast mixture until the eggs are well incorporated and the salt and sugar have dissolved. Stir in the remaining 4 cups of flour all at once. When the mixture is a shaggy ball, scrape it out onto your work surface and knead it until it is smooth and firm, about 10 minutes. Sprinkle the dough and your work surface with flour and pull the dough out of the bowl.
Cut the dough into two equal pieces and keep one piece covered while you work on the other. Roll the dough into a 16-inch-thick square. Scatter 1 heaping cup of the apples over the center third of the dough, then fold up the bottom third to cover them. Press the dough into the apples to try to seal them. Scatter another heaping cup over the folded-over apple-filled portion of the dough and fold the top of the dough over it to create a very stuffed letter fold.
Press down on the dough to try to push out any air pockets and to seal it around the apples. Make a cylinder of the three layers of filled dough. Bring it together and shape it with the smooth side upward. Place it in a bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap. Repeat with the other piece of dough and put it in a second covered bowl or other container.
Bake in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 45-55 minutes, until very well-browned.
Yields 2 loaves.
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SPIRITUAL BAKING
In her classes, Dinie Scheiner aims to instill confidence in novice cooks, exchange recipe ideas and share the spiritual side of preparing challah for Shabbat.
Her gourmet variations include mixing the dough with rosemary, Kalamata olives, flax flour, oat flour or onions. For onion challah, she chops fresh onions, mixes them with 1/3 cup margarine, puts them on the bottom of the baking pan and places the dough on top. The onions brown and perfume the bread.
Her list of toppings includes sesame, poppy, flax or sunflower seeds. She also suggests brushing the top of the bread with egg wash with a drop of oil.
The group tasted several kinds of freshly baked challah and voted Pecan Surprise the favorite recipe.
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TIPS FOR CHALLAH BAKING
¦ Oil or spray the pans.
¦ Let the dough rise until double in size. If using white flour dough, punch it down and allow it to rise again.
¦ Shape loaves and let them rise for 20 minutes.
¦ Baking time depends on the size of the loaves and how “doughy” you like the finished product. Do not over-bake.
¦ Do not open the oven for the first 15 minutes. Depending on the oven, you may have to switch the rack to get the bottom loaves brown on top. Baking time may range from 25-40 minutes depending on the size of the loaves.
¦ Lightly tap the bottom of the loaf to determiine readiness. Make sure the bottom is “tappable” — not too soft.
¦ Cool the bread on a wire rack.
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UPCOMING CULINARY EVENTS
The Palm Beach Synagogue Women’s Chodesh Group hosts these events, which are open to women at no charge:
¦ March 3 at 11 a.m. — Learn the history of sushi with a Japanese master chef while gaining instruction on how to prepare this delicacy to perfection. This is in honor of the month of Adar whose symbol is a fish that stands for good luck.
¦ May 26 at 10:30 a.m. — Learn from a professional pastry chef the gourmet baking techniques associated with fondant and gum paste icing for elegant cakes.
For information, call 838-9002, Ext. 4.
