Challah

The Jewish Holiday Kitchen by Joan Nathan; Schocken Books

2 loaves

Preheat oven to warm[104degrees F] Mix flour, salt, [rasins], in a large bowl making a well in the center. Add 1/4 cup sugar to well cover with yeast and top with the remaing 1/4 cup sugar. Mix yeast and suager in the well.

Add the margarine to the warm water slowly mixing well. Add margarine mixture to the yeast mixture and mix well. Set aside 1 egg plus the yolk of another. Add remaing eggs plus the extra white individually into the dough, kneading well after each addition untill all the flour is absorbed. As you knead you may have to add more flour so have some handy. Cover the bowl with waxed paper smeared with margarine then with a towel, put in warm oven for 1/2 hour. Go clean out your mixer bowl. Dry.

When dough is almost doubled in size punch it down and knead for 2 min with mixer. Put bread back into bowl for rising and cover with greased paper and towel let rise for 15-20 min more in warm oven. Remove punch down knead. Recover and let rise for 15-20 minutes in the warm oven. Turn onto a pastry board and knead throughly. Using a knife cut dough in half. then divide each piece into 6. Add a little flour and knead each portion. Roll each portion into ropes 9" in length.

Put 6 ropes side by side touching at one end. Pinch that end to seal. Bring the extreme right rope over the next three. Then bring the extreme left over three. Continue untill the bread is completely braided. When no more can be braided pinch ends to seal together. Shape to the size of pan.[ I use cookie sheets] Put bread on pan. Braid remaing loaf.

Brush loaves with the remaining egg+yolk making sure you get in all the cracks. Sprinkle with the sesame seeds. Place in warm oven for 20 minutes. Raise oven temp to 200-degrees F for 15 min. Raise oven temp tp 275-
degress F for 15 min Finally raise the oven temp to 375-degrees F for 10-15 min until bread is golden brown. This bread freezes well.