Challah for apples!

There are many sweet culinary customs associated with the Jewish New Year to ensure that the entire coming year is sweet. But what is a must on the holiday table are apples, bread and honey. All these three main symbols of Rosh Hashanah can be combined in one apple challah - and not just a simple one, but a round one.

You will need:

For the test

2 tbsp. spoons of yeast

1 glass of warm water

½ cup + 1 tbsp. spoon of sugar

2 eggs

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 tbsp. spoon of salt

4 cups flour

For filling

5 apples

½ cup sugar

1 tbsp. spoon of cinnamon

The most important custom, which both adults and children know well, is eating apples with honey on New Year’s Day. They begin to eat apples long before the start of the holiday - at children's parties and at parties, dipping them in honey and asking the Almighty to make the new year sweet. On the New Year's table, in addition to apples, there must be challah, and not just any challah, but a round one - a symbol of wholeness and infinity - it is also dipped in honey.

There are many New Year's recipes associated with apples, bread and honey - new and old, designed to combine all three main symbols of the New Year into a single whole. One of the most successful inventions of this year is round bread with apples, which, as you guessed, is served on the table with honey.

The dough for it is prepared in the same way as the dough for challah. Then they don’t make braids out of it, but roll out and wrap apple slices in it. Lubricate with honey or concentrated sugar and place in the oven. The whole process takes a lot of time, but the result is worth it - apple challah can become the main decoration of your holiday table. Sweet New Year!

Cooking method

Mix together the yeast, water and one tablespoon of sugar, leave for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, add eggs, remaining sugar, vegetable oil, salt and lastly flour to the mixture. Flour should be added in small portions while kneading the dough. When the dough becomes homogeneous, cover it with a towel and leave for several hours. When the dough has risen well, remove it from the bowl and roll it out as thin as possible, but so that it does not begin to tear.

Cut the apples into slices. Step back about 10 cm from the edge of the dough on one side and lay out the apples so that you get an even row. Sprinkle the apples with sugar and cinnamon and then cover with the dough you left over the edge. Then place another row of apples on the uncovered part, sprinkle them again with sugar and cinnamon and cover it with the part of the dough in which you already wrapped the previous layer of apples. Do this operation one more time. The result will be something like a flat apple roll.

This roll can be placed on a baking sheet and baked as is, or it can be cut into pieces and placed in a round shape, placing the remaining apple slices between the pieces of the roll. In the second case, you will get a round loaf with apple filling and apple inserts between the segments. Bake apple challah at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.

Anna Markova