braiding a six strand challah

My standard weekly challah is a six-strand weave. Not only do they look beautiful, they have symbolic meaning as well. The six days of the work-week that press ever onward through the ticking of time are the paradigm of diversity, like the six directions in our three-dimensional world—north, east, south, west, up, and down. During these six days we reach outward with action in many directions, striving to master our environment and our lives. Shabbat, on the other hand, is the inner point, the point of unity. On this day, we stop doing and allow ourselves to just BE. Shabbat is the one day for which time stops.

On Shabbat we act as if we live in a unified world, a world infused with peace and populated by human beings who care for one another and for the earth.

Now, we’re ready to begin!

Divide the Dough

I admit I get a little intense about dividing the dough. I whip out my trusty kitchen scale, weigh out the whole thing in grams, divide by 12, and make twelve balls of the exact same weight. If you don’t have a trusty kitchen scale, don’t fret. Just form the dough into a long log, doing your best to keep it symmetrical from end to end, cut it in half, and then half again, and keep going until you have twelve pieces of about the same size. It will be fine. I promise. For a rainbow effect, stop dividing at 6, work in your colors, and then divide each color in two.

Twelve balls? Sounds like we’re making two loaves! We are.

It’s traditional to have two loaves for the Shabbat table, so I’ll need two strands of each color.   

 Don’t be intimidated by these instructions! They can appear to be a little confusing at first glance, but if you follow along with the pictures, you’ll have it down in no time.

• Take the strand farthest from you (purple) and move it off to the side, away from the other strands.

• Pick up its neighbor (blue). Cross it over all the remaining ropes so that it is now the one closest to you, set a little bit away from the others.

• Now, take the (purple) rope, the one you set off to the side at the beginning, and fold it over the two ropes next to it (green and yellow), plopping it down in the middle.

You’re really on a roll now. (Ok, not a roll, a challah….)

Going back to the far side, bypass the (red) rope set off to the side and pick up the (green) rope next to it. Bring it all the way across so that it’s now closest to you.

Then go back and pick up the (red) rope from the far side and, crossing over the two (yellow and purple) ropes next to it, plop it down in the middle.

Are you seeing the pattern?

Continue alternating between sides, taking the second rope on one side, crossing it over the pack, and then taking the first rope from that same side and crossing it to the middle. Be sure to give each rope a little tug as you weave it, keeping the braid fairly tight.

Continue weaving in this manner until you get to the end, as far as you can possibly go.

When you’ve got the whole thing braided, squish the bits together at both ends and fold them under.

Your challah should look like this:

 It's easier than you might think

Producing a beautiful six-braid challah is simpler than you may think. For the sake of this tutorial, to make it easy to follow the pattern of the weave, I’m making a Rainbow Challah. It’s a bit of a challenge because you have to work the food colors—I like these—into each chunk of dough uniformly, but it does come out looking amazing. It’s especially fun to do these for the Shabbat when we read the story of Noah, or for Pride month, or because kids think it’s awesome. Of course, you can follow this tutorial using normal, uncolored dough. Here’s the recipe to make the dough for my Golden Shabbat Challah. I think it’s the best, with just the right balance of sweetness and just the right texture.

Braiding—the Many Become One

Think about it. There are no braids in nature. Braiding is a distinctly human activity, and so it represents our ability to manipulate our world. There’s a tale in the Talmud that says God braided Eve’s hair in preparation for her wedding to Adam, gifting her with creative energy.

I’m going to teach you how to braid a six strand challah by making a rainbow challah. These are always fun, and not just for the kids… But it’s the perfect challah to make for the week when we read the Torah portion about Noah, as well for a pride-themed Shabbat.

Wait!

Challah is Taken

Your dough has completed its first rising. You’ve punched it down, turned it out onto your work surface, and it’s ready to be shaped. But there’s still one more thing to do before you begin portioning. rolling, and weaving.

It’s a beautiful, ancient custom. Pull off a small chunk of the dough, hold it up, and say, “harey zeh challah” (challah is taken). Then, set it aside to burn it later.

Have I left you scratching your head over this one?

Click below and find out the why and the how.

Okay, let’s do it!

On your work surface, make two separate groupings of six dough chunks, one of each color if you’re making rainbow challot. By the way, don’t try to use supermarket liquid food coloring—you won’t achieve a deep enough color. Use paste colors, like the ones from US Food Supply (this is a nice starter set). They have so many fabulous colors, it makes me want to start decorating cakes and cookies right now!             

Take up any dough chunk and place it on a lightly floured surface.  

Using your palms, roll it into a long rope with tapered ends. Repeat this with the rest of the balls.

You may find that, while they’re resting, your ropes contract a bit. This is just the gluten acting up. After they rest for a few minutes, you should be able to coax them out again. I always go back and re-roll them a second time after they’ve rested.

For each loaf, lay out one rope of each color, side by side, and pinch them together at one end. For my rainbow effect, I arranged the colored ropes in the same order as the colors appear in an actual rainbow—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. I like to impose order upon my rainbows.

It should look like this:   

Now we work from the other side.

• Bypass the (blue) rope that’s set aside nearest you and pick up the (red) rope next to it. Cross it over all the remaining ropes so that it is now the one furthest from you, and set it a little bit away from the others.

• Then, take the (blue) rope now closest to you, and fold it over the two ropes next to it (orange and purple), plopping it down in the middle.

It’s the magic of “Act As If and You Will Become.” On Shabbat we act as if we live in a unified world, a world infused with peace and populated by human beings who care for one another and for the earth. In so doing, we embody the hope—no, the certainty—that such a time is possible, that such a time will come. If we can create it in ourselves, then it must be possible to create it in our homes, in our communities, and in our world. The six-strands of the challah that is eaten at the Shabbat table are like the six days of the week of creating; woven into one they represent this idea of unity, of tying everything together, weaving the disparate aspects of our lives into a cogent whole for the beautiful harmony that only Shabbat can achieve.

When you’ve braided both of your loaves, place them on one or two baking sheets that have been lined with either parchment paper or a silicon mat.

They are officially ready for their second rising. Set the pans in your oven (which, unless your oven has a “proofing” setting, is off!) and set your timer for 40 minutes.

When the timer goes off, brush them with an egg wash (adding seeds if desired), and bake them according to the directions in the recipe.

Here’s what a rainbow challah will look like when it’s been baked and sliced.

Gorgeous! Can’t you just taste the yeasty goodness?

congratulations!