This was a disaster! I followed the instructions to the letter, and the dough was very dry so I added a little more water and more beet purée. Dough got better, but never silky smooth and nowhere near the color in the pics but the gluten developed nicely. Proofed it in the fridge for @24 hrs; color was more marble than pink. Had a very hard time creating strands for my braids (I did a round one that I found elsewhere) because the dough literally would not roll - I had to squeeze and stretch but it kept springing back. Finally braided and proofed the challah and got it in the oven. It took @50 minutes to bake fully, at which point the outside was crunchy - not bad, but not challah. I am a novice bread baker - can you tell? - but I’ve made challah before and never had so many problems. Help, and TIA!
September 6, 2021 at 4:34pm
This was a disaster! I followed the instructions to the letter, and the dough was very dry so I added a little more water and more beet purée. Dough got better, but never silky smooth and nowhere near the color in the pics but the gluten developed nicely. Proofed it in the fridge for @24 hrs; color was more marble than pink. Had a very hard time creating strands for my braids (I did a round one that I found elsewhere) because the dough literally would not roll - I had to squeeze and stretch but it kept springing back. Finally braided and proofed the challah and got it in the oven. It took @50 minutes to bake fully, at which point the outside was crunchy - not bad, but not challah. I am a novice bread baker - can you tell? - but I’ve made challah before and never had so many problems. Help, and TIA!