today i'm so excited because i will bring you along as i prepare my first shabbat
challah after passover which is called the shlissel challah it is a challah shaped as
a key it is a segula to increase our wealth as the key to our parnassa our livelihood is
in god's hands and we pray while making this allah that god will shower us with abundance
i will show you four different techniques to make my shlissel challah as well as how
to decorate them these shlissel challah are simple foolproof and make the complete process so fun and
stressless because who needs complicated nowadays if you're new here hi my name is Sarah Malka on my
channel i share all my tips and tricks to keep a balanced life between being a sephardic orthodox
jewish mom working full time with small kiddos so do not forget to leave a big thumbs up to
the video and subscribe to our channel let me put on a pretty tichel and let's jump into it
my shlissel challah starts by using the best challah recipe the one i use
is foolproof and absolutely delicious i will leave the link above and in the description box below
once we have the best challah recipe i want to make the most beautiful strands
to achieve that i will start by weighing each piece of dough
then i will roll out each ball with a rolling pin to make sure all the air bubbles are removed
and for the strand to avoid cracking and stay nice and smooth during the baking time
then i'm going to roll it out onto itself to form a cigar pinch the edges from one side to the other
then i will roll it slightly with my hands and put the strand aside
if i don't have a rolling pin i will flatten my dough with my fingers then i will roll it
tightly unto itself to form a cigar once again i pinch the seam from one end to the other
and then roll it slightly now that i have the smoothest strand i can start my first
shlissel challah i will start by simply braiding a three-strand challah leaving the top unbraided
i make sure that the end is nicely tucked then i go back to the first extremity and i will roll
them out to reach about 12 inches once that i have done that i will roll the strand onto
itself to form a swirl i repeat of course the process with the three prongs and i make sure
that they go in the same direction i will take two pieces of dough and swirl them one onto the other
i will place my swirl under my challah to create the teeth of my key i will put it on a baking
sheet lined with parchment paper cover it and then i will move on to my next shlissel challah
the next one is one of the easiest i will roll out my dough to about 12 to 14 inches and i make
knots making sure i tuck the ends at the bottom of my knot for it to fluff up and to keep its
shape during the proofing and baking time i place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper
i form a circle making sure i leave a space between the pieces of challah to
let the chisel challah proof correctly i add the other pieces to form the body of the key challah
then i will add the teeth of my challah using about a 10 gram piece of dough that i shape in
a rectangular form i keep a good distance between the ridges of my key for them to stay separated
even after baking i will put the teeth of my challah under the dough to allow it to stick
to the challah during its rising and baking time i will cover my challah with a plastic sheet and
go to my next shlissel challah i prepare three regular strands of dough and i do a smaller one
that i will swirl unto itself then i will put it aside i will braid my challah with three strands
all the way to the bottom and i will make sure to really nicely tuck the ends of the challah
at the bottom i will leave the top part unbraided like our first braided shlissel challah
i will take the middle strand and i'll roll it around the swirl then i will roll out the
two other strands to elongate them and i will roll them around the first world i had created i should
have placed everything on a parchment paper but i completely forgot that i will do that in a minute
i will take small pieces of dough about 10 grams each and i will roll it onto itself i place it
around the head of my challah and i repeat the process until i have 5 circles for them
to keep their shapes i will use wet parchment paper and i will place them in the circles
then i add the decorations today i will keep it pretty simple i will add a strand of dough and
shape it like an "S" i repeat the same thing on the other side and add a dot of dough i make the
teeth of the key using a piece of dough once again and i shape it like a little rectangle and i will
place the rectangle under the challah to make sure while it's proofing it will stick to the
body of the key this is the key that inspired me it is a key that my grandmother gave me
what do you think is it a pretty good replica let me know in the comments below i will cover
my challah set it aside and i will go to the next shabbat shlissel challah the last one is very
special and dear to me because it is the first shape i made when i made my first shlissel challah
i take a ball of dough and then i take a small string of dough and create a circle then i add
another little string of dough and i put it straight underneath the circle
i cut two very small pieces of dough and i will connect it to the line
i add another line of dough on top to unify the design
and then i will add two other layers of dough around the head of my key to give it a bit
of dimension including one that will again make a circle all around the head of my key
i pat everything into place to make sure it sticks nicely to the dough
then i will cover everything and let my challah proof for about 40 minutes
after 40 minutes i will add the egg wash here i'm using only egg yolks to have a deep and rich color
i will put in the description box below my five favorite ways to make different egg wash including
a vegan egg wash to have the exact color i want when i make my challah while i'm applying the
egg wash i make sure to put it in every nooks and cranny of the shlissel challah to give an
even color on the shlissel challah i will add a mixture of za'atar and sumac to create different
colors and textures to make the spices stick to the challah i will wet my finger and dip it in the
pot of spice then dab it on my challah i will do a few layers of the spices on my challah to achieve
the color that i want in this particular shlissel challah i alternated the colors on the top of my
challah to create more dimension but i left the bottom of my challah plain with only egg wash
to decorate my swirl shlissel challah i will add some black sesame seeds because i could not find
our white sesame seeds after passover using the same technique i apply the sesame seeds
our sages say that we add sesame seeds to our shlissel challahto remind us that G.od
fed us in the desert for 40 years with the manna (Manh) that resembled white sesame seeds
for my grandmother's shlissel challah i have opted to only decorate the loops with za'atar
and sumac and i will place my four challah in the oven for 30 minutes
and after 30 minutes i'm left with simple beautiful and delicious shlissel challah i would
love to know which one was your favorite one and also which one do you think you would attempt let
me know in the comments below thank you for being here it means the world to me know that in my book
you are irreplaceable and if you're here until the end please write in the comments I LOVE SHLISSEL
CHALLAH so i know i was not alone if nobody told you today know that you are loved and you are
enough just the way you are until next time stay safe stay blessed and don't forget to frum it up
wow