Rainbow Challah
October 17, 2012
This week in the weekly cycle of the Torah readings we read the story of Noach. God plans to destroy the earth with a flood and instructs Noah to take his family and a least two of each animal onto the ark to save them. After the flood God designates the rainbow as a symbol of the promise never to destroy the earth again. Since the rainbow is such a beautiful symbol I like to make something rainbow to highlight the story with my kids. These beautiful cookies are high on my list of things I want to make some year but this year I decided to make rainbow challah. A six strand braid is the perfect way to make the challah since each color of the rainbow is represented. Because of the braiding, each slice looks a bit different which only adds to the appeal. We are a family that tears our challah but this is a challah made for slicing. If you tear it the colors won’t have the same dramatic effect.
I tested it out a few weeks ago to make sure it would work and ever since then my son has been begging me to make every challah a rainbow challah. Since I generally try to avoid artifical food colorings this isn’t going to become a weekly staple in our house, but once in a while it makes for a great treat.
Whether making this for Parshat Noach or just to put a smile on your kids faces the bottom line is that this challah is just a whole lot of fun.
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Rainbow Challah
October 17, 2012
Ingredients & Instructions
Ingredients & Quantities
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast*
- 6 cups unbleached white flour (more, if necessary) [substitute up to half of the flour for whole wheat or other grain flour]
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 11/4 cup water
- ½-3/4 cup honey (I recommend using the larger amount for whole wheat)
- gel food coloring in the colors of the rainbow
Preparation Instructions
Mix the yeast, flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer (this can also be done in a large bowl). Set aside. In another bowl, mix eggs, oil, water and honey.
Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until the dough has come together. If using an electric mixer use the paddle attachment for this, not the bread hook. If necessary, add unbleached white flour as you’re mixing. The dough will remain fairly soft, but it shouldn’t be sticky. Turn the dough out onto a counter or a board, and knead it a few times just to smooth it out. This “kneading” should not take more than one minute.
Using a scale, divide the dough into six equal portions. Working with one portion at a time flatten the dough into a circle on a well floured counter or board. Add several drops of food coloring to the middle. Fold the dough over and knead it until the color is evenly distributed. Form the dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough in a small, well-oiled bowl, turning the dough to oil all the surfaces. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Cover all the dough with a towel and let rise in a warm, non-drafty place for about two hours, or until doubled in size.**
Cooking Instructions
Preheat oven to 325
Divide each color of dough into two. Roll out all the dough into long ropes. Arrange one strand of each color in rainbow order and braid them together. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Place on a lightly greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes.
Challah is done when both top and bottom are slightly browned and it makes a hollow sound when tapped. Because of the slight browning the colors will not be so dramatic on the outside of the challah, but the inside will stay bright and beautiful.
!*I like using instant yeast because it can just be mixed in with the other ingredients, but regular active yeast can be used instead by following these steps. Mix together the 2 tablespoons yeast (3 packets) with 3/4 cup of the water from the recipe (it should be quite warm but not hot) and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Set the mixture aside for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes it should be quite bubbly. Add this mixture to the flour and salt and mix well.
**The dough can be refrigerated at this point for up to 24 hours. (Ziplock bags work great) Make sure to bring it back to room temperature before braiding.
Recipe Details
Recipe Times
Prep
N/A
Cook
45 Minutes
Total
4 Hours 15 Minutes
Recipe Yield
2 Large Challahs
Recipe Categories
Rainbow Challah
October 17, 2012
Recipe Details
Recipe Yield
2 Large Challahs
Prep Time
N/A
Cook Time
45 Minutes
Total Time
4 Hours 15 Minutes
Ingredients & Quantities
- 2 tablespoons instant yeast*
- 6 cups unbleached white flour (more, if necessary) [substitute up to half of the flour for whole wheat or other grain flour]
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- 2/3 cup vegetable oil
- 11/4 cup water
- ½-3/4 cup honey (I recommend using the larger amount for whole wheat)
- gel food coloring in the colors of the rainbow
Preparation & Cooking
Preparation
Mix the yeast, flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer (this can also be done in a large bowl). Set aside. In another bowl, mix eggs, oil, water and honey.
Add egg mixture to the flour mixture and mix until the dough has come together. If using an electric mixer use the paddle attachment for this, not the bread hook. If necessary, add unbleached white flour as you’re mixing. The dough will remain fairly soft, but it shouldn’t be sticky. Turn the dough out onto a counter or a board, and knead it a few times just to smooth it out. This “kneading” should not take more than one minute.
Using a scale, divide the dough into six equal portions. Working with one portion at a time flatten the dough into a circle on a well floured counter or board. Add several drops of food coloring to the middle. Fold the dough over and knead it until the color is evenly distributed. Form the dough into a ball. Place the ball of dough in a small, well-oiled bowl, turning the dough to oil all the surfaces. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Cover all the dough with a towel and let rise in a warm, non-drafty place for about two hours, or until doubled in size.**
Cooking
Preheat oven to 325
Divide each color of dough into two. Roll out all the dough into long ropes. Arrange one strand of each color in rainbow order and braid them together. Repeat with the remaining dough.
Place on a lightly greased baking sheet or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for about 30 to 40 minutes.
Challah is done when both top and bottom are slightly browned and it makes a hollow sound when tapped. Because of the slight browning the colors will not be so dramatic on the outside of the challah, but the inside will stay bright and beautiful.
!*I like using instant yeast because it can just be mixed in with the other ingredients, but regular active yeast can be used instead by following these steps. Mix together the 2 tablespoons yeast (3 packets) with 3/4 cup of the water from the recipe (it should be quite warm but not hot) and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Set the mixture aside for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes it should be quite bubbly. Add this mixture to the flour and salt and mix well.
**The dough can be refrigerated at this point for up to 24 hours. (Ziplock bags work great) Make sure to bring it back to room temperature before braiding.
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Recipe Page: https://www.couldntbeparve.com/recipe/rainbow-challah/
So tempted to make this for shabbat! Was going to make a rainbow cake, but I love this idea!
This is so fabulous. How colorful and festive!
What a fun idea . . . I love how this looks. And thanks for the link to the rainbow cookies.
What a sweet idea that brings the parsha to life! Try my version with pesto for green, pumpkin for orange, cinnamon for brown etc.
We CAN make this effect with out food coloring!
Rochel
I like the idea of using natural colors, and do for most things, but when I tried with this I didn’t quite get the rainbow effect I was hoping for. It was multi-colored for sure, but since I really wanted a bold rainbow I just bit the bullet and used food coloring. (The natural food colors are much more muted, especially when baked) I may use natural colors to make multi-colored challah more often for my kids, but once a year I will go all out.
Wow, I thought it was playdough at first:)
I bet it’s a huge hit with the kids.
Oh, what fun! I have to hide this page from my kids, or they’ll demand I make one, too LOL!
This is my wife’s recipe and can be made parave by leaving out the parm. Cheese.
http://marilyferecipes.blogspot.com/2012/09/magic-rainbow-braided-bread.html
thanks for sharing, this sounds delicious.
Your challah is so vibrant and fun! What a great treat! I wonder what it would look like as french toast!
I love it! This is too cool for school, my friend!
Very cute… very cool… very bright!
Gorgeous!! I love the all the rainbow recipes around for parsha Noach.
I make this bread too, but I mix the food coloring into the egg mixture. you can mix the color in better and get a deeper and richer color.
Thanks for the tip. I will try that next time if I am making a batch that is all one color.
This looks incredible! It would be fantastic to surprise my preschool class with! Thanks for sharing such a creative idea!
You are so creative – I love the idea and more importantly what it represents
This is awesome for Purim!! Can you imagine bringing this to a Purim seudah?
this is so adorable. i want to try it out
It looks so strange sliced….. I be never had sliced challah….
You wrote that you’re loathe to use artificial food colors. If you want to really knock yourself out, here’s a rainbow challah recipe using natural food dyes. https://challah-cover.com/blogs/welcome-the-shabbos-queen/rainbow-challah Not for the uninitiated!
Thanks for sharing this, it looks beautiul.