Rainbow Challah

Purim is coming - do you have your shalach manos ready?  We have been throwing ideas around for a while and even though we only have one day left (yikes) we still haven't really figured out what we are doing and I have only baked about half the things I originally thought I was going to.  Oh well.  Anyway, last year we were much more organized!  We knew exactly what we were going to do months in advance and I had everything ready - it was great!  We did a Parshas Noach theme so we made rainbow challah, frosted elephant sugar cookies, and some store bought animal crackers to fill the plate.

Oh, and we dressed our daughter as an elephant as well, just to keep the theme going, and let me tell you - she made a darn cute elephant!

The recipe I want to share with you now is called  "Rainbow Challah".  The first time I made this I had a friend over for shabbos and when my husband sliced the bread open she actually screamed with joy, no kidding.  This challah is not only tasty, pretty, and unique, it is also a conversation piece.  Now, I don't want to mislead you - this is not a "bake it on Friday morning" type of bread.  It takes a lot more time than at least my usual challah, so with this one I bake it whenever I happen to have free time (ya, right) and then I freeze it.  I assure you though, this challah is worth trying at least once.


The best thing about this challah (other than the taste and the awesomeness of the idea in general of course) is that you aren't creating a rainbow from food coloring; you are using actual food to color the dough.  Before you get started, you will need to puree yourself some carrots, spinach, and beets.  You will be making 4 separate doughs and using the pureed vegetables to color three of them (the last one will just use water and will be the "natural" colored strand.

4 strands, ready to braid

This recipe comes from the cookbook Kosher Delicious: Great Recipes for Living

- 10 C flour*

- 8 Tbsp sugar (I like to use 12 Tbsp)

- 4 tsp active dry yeast

- 2 tsp kosher salt (I have always just used regular salt)

- 4 large eggs

- 8 Tbsp oil

- 1 C spinnach (pureed)

- 1 C carrots (pureed)

- 1 C beets (pureed)

- 1 C water

- egg for basting

You will need 4 separate mixing bowls, one for each color of dough.  In each bowl combine 2 1/2 C flour, 2 (or 3) Tbsp sugar, 1 tsp yeast, and 1/2 tsp salt.

*I can almost guarantee that you will need to add extra flour - I usually end up using about 13 C of flour in total.  As you knead the dough, just keep adding flour as needed until you get a good consistency.

Add 1 egg and 2 Tbsp of oil to each bowl.  Add the spinach to the first bowl, the carrots to the second, the beets to the third, and the water to the fourth bowl.  Stir the ingredients of each bowl and knead it by mixer or hand until you have a workable dough. 

Allow the dough to rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.  

Punch down dough and shape each color into strands.  Take one strand of each color and braid the 4 strands together.  (I manage to get about 8 reasonable sized loaves from this, but you can make the loaves bigger or smaller to suit your needs.)

Place braided loaves on a baking sheet and allow to rise for 1 hour.  Baste the loaves with an egg wash and bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 30 minutes, or until golden brown. (Mine usually only need about 20 minutes). 

Have fun and enjoy!!