Help me achieve challah nirvana

Cafe Society
1

I make challah every week, using a slightly modified version of this recipe: The Only Challah Recipe You Will Ever Need, Amen. – The Cuban Reuben

However, instead of braiding it in the traditional way, I make a pull-apart loaf by cutting the dough into 16 clumps, which I arrange and bake in an 8-inch round cake pan, 2.5 inches tall. I aspire to the taste and texture of a kosher bakery in Baltimore that sells challah in that style, Rosendorf’s. (Or used to: the pull-apart loaf isn’t listed there. :frowning:)

Although I’ve achieved the flavor that I hoped for, I’ve always been dissatisfied with the cakey texture of my challah. Rosendorf’s, although light, has a more chewy and less crumby texture.

FYI, to speed the process, I raise the bread in a proofing drawer at 120F. The first rise is usually about an hour, the second around 45 minutes, both until the volume doubles.

I have been letting the bread rise for the second time after arranging the clumps in the cake pan, but while making a braided loaf recently, I discovered that I could achieve the texture I’m seeking by letting it rise in a bowl twice, then braiding and baking it.

Hoping I could translate that information to the pull-apart loaf, I did exactly the same process: rise twice in the bowl, cut up and arrange the clumps in the pan without a rise, then bake. Unfortunately, the resulting loaf, while it had the right texture, didn’t rise above the top of the pan and was quite dense.

I next tried three rises, with the third in the pan, but that resulted in the old cakey texture I don’t want.

For my third try, I used two rises in the bowl, the first shorter than usual, so as not to exhaust the yeast, then arranged and baked. This loaf turned out like the first: good texture, but too dense.

How can I achieve a pull-apart loaf that is both light and has the chewy texture I’m looking for? Rosendorf’s does it. Surely I can, too!

2

Maybe knead (or at least pull) the dough more, to replicate the physical stress of being braided?

3

I hand-knead the dough for at least five minutes before the first rise, so I don’t think the process of merely braiding it would change much. But, come to think of it, when I made the good braided loaf, in the process of preparing to braid it, I did knead the dough a bit after the second rise, so there may be something to that idea.

Thanks for the suggestion.

4

I suspect the braiding process is more than just symbolic. It directly affects the properties of the loaf as it bakes.

5

This is exactly what I was going to write. If bread is too cakey and not doughy enough, it needs more gluten development, i.e. kneading.

6

Out of curiosity, why do you want a pull-apart loaf? We “pull apart” braided challah all the time.