Personal Favorite: Challah German Toast

 

I've just returned home from a week at the beach, where we have a tradition of enjoying second breakfast.  Inspired by a hobbit aesthetic, second breakfast is served by yours truly a couple times a week.  Some of us are early risers: beach-goers, bike riders, runners, yoga-on-the-beach-ers, etc., and if we've had an early nosh, it's usually something light.  By 10:00, it's time for second breakfast. Sunday morning second breakfast, for something like five or six years now, is challah German (French) toast. (I'll post a sidebar note at a later time about the origins--documented and legendary--of the name French toast.  But for now, suffice it to say that I live with a man who makes his living teaching young people to speak German, so it's German toast. Here's a link or two to get you started on your own if you're curious.)

The toast part is easy--and delicious.  You really can make it with any kind of bread, and if the bread is a little (or a lot) dried out, that's fantastic.  All you really need are eggs and milk.  I've read a bunch of different recipes that also include salt, sugar, and a range of other spices.  I use the following recipe, given to my by a dear friend, for the basic proportions and multiply as needed:

For four slices of bread, whisk together 2 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, 3 good shakes ground cinnamon, 1 good shake ground nutmeg.

And that's it.  Seriously.  All that's left is the toasting.  I love to use a cast iron skillet, sprayed with a little oil or cooking spray, on a medium heat setting, hot enough to sizzle nicely but not brown too quickly.  Soak the bread piece by piece in the egg and milk mixture, and place it cut side down on the hot skillet until it's golden brown, 2-3 mins or less, depending.  Flip and brown the other side.  Serve with a little confectioner's sugar dusted over the slices and a good maple syrup.

So you can do German toast with any old bread you've got.  But.  If you (1) really love the people you're serving, and if you (2) would like for one of those people to take a bite of your German toast and say "This is the first thing I'm going to eat when I get to heaven," and if you (3) want to have a ton of fun making the most delicious, beautiful bread ever, you should learn to make challah.  Julia Child has a great recipe in her book Baking with Julia, written with Dori Greenspan (1996).

Don't forget to check your local library--a great resource for sampling cookbooks before you invest.

It takes me 5 hours, approximately, from start to finish to make challah, but a good portion of that time is the dough working, rising and baking.  I'd say it's about 45 minutes to an hour of actual human work time.  The loaves last a long time and freeze well, especially if you slice them before freezing.  

Here's a photo step-by-step:

Milk, melted butter, sugar,  honey, salt.  If you don't have an instant-read thermometer, get one.

Yeast in a little luke-warm water with a pinch of sugar

It's the eggs!

Oh, how I love my Kitchen Aid mixer.  And yes, I use the dough hook, even though, . . . . well, that's for another post. However, it is entirely possible to make this dough without a mixer other than the ones god gave you (hands).

In fact, I do the last little bit of kneading by hand to incorporate the last 3/4 cup (or so) of flour and just because the dough feels soo soft and warm.  Also I love to use my bread board, a gift from my sister. A good flat, cool surface you can flour well will work just fine.  Use a sheet of waxed paper or two spread on a counter, lightly floured.

Gorgeous, and ready to rise twice: once for about 90 mins or until doubled, then it gets punched down and rises again for about 45 mins.

Buttered bowl. Buttered plastic wrap.

It's alive!

A mezzaluna and a scale are helpful but not essential. I have divided the dough successfully enough without them.

Divide each half into thirds for braiding.

Roll the thirds into long strands.

If you can braid hair, you can braid dough.  Julia recommends starting in the middle and working to one end then turning the bread around to complete the braid. I concur.  This method works. 

What would we do without parchment paper?

Before they go in the oven, they rise again a little, then get an egg wash, a sprinkling of coarse salt and poppy seeds.

Do it!  You will feel so proud of yourself!