Hungarian Compound Challah

According to Maggie Glezer, in A Blessing of Bread, “At the height of difficulty is a Hungarian celebration challah: two high four stranded braids are set side by side and a thin five-stranded braid is laid over their joint and tucked under the ends.”Two 4-strand braids with a 5-strand braid on top, baked together as a compound braid, or koyletch:

Here is what a four stranded braid looks like when baked individually:

Alas, I forgot to take a picture of the process, but here is a picture from the Fresh Loaf (scroll down for the unbaked loaf).

And here is the recipe for the dough.

More specifics on how to do this:

Take two pounds of dough and divide it into 10 pieces (3.2 ounces each). Take four pieces and make a four strand challah (total weight about 13 ounces). Do this again. Now you have two four strand loaves.  Place them side by side to make a large double loaf (total weight combined of 25.6 ounces). Take the remaining 6.4 ounces of dough and make five strands that are quite a bit longer and thinner than your other strands for the other braids (each 1.3 ounces). Make a five strand braid and lay this over the top of the two four strands, tucking the ends underneath.

Here is a link to Glezer showing how to shape the strands for a six strand.

Sending this to Yeastspotting.

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Tags: challah, Chernowitzer Challah, compound braid, koletch, maggie glezer, yeastspotting