America's Test Kitchen (2000–…): Season 22, Episode 6 - Jewish Baking - full transcript
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-Today on
"America's Test Kitchen,"
Lan makes Bridget
a fool-proof challah,
Jack talks about
different types of flour,
and Erin makes Julia
crescent-shaped rugelach
with raisin-walnut filling.
It's all coming up right here
on "America's Test Kitchen."
♪♪
-Some bread recipes have
a long history baked right in,
like challah.
It's revered not only
for its religious importance,
but also for its flavor,
its texture,
the beautiful braids and twists.
Now, Lan's here, and she's going
to tell us all about her journey
to craft a loaf of challah
that was respectful of history
but approachable enough
for the home cook.
-I learned how to make challah
by testing a couple of recipes
on my own, but also by going to
the experts.
Made a trip
to Rosenfeld's Bagels in Newton,
and there, I met Mike Lombardo.
He's the owner of the bakery,
and he and his crew
make hundreds of loaves a day.
And what I learned was
you need a dough that bakes up
nice and tender and plush,
but it needs to be firm enough
that you can work with it
while it's raw.
-That's quite the balance
you have there.
-It is, it is,
but we have a couple of tricks
that we learned here
in the test kitchen
that we're gonna apply.
-Okay.
-And it starts with
these ingredients.
I've got 3 tablespoons
of bread flour here,
and I'm gonna add
1/2 cup of water.
Whisk them together,
and then I'm gonna cook
this mixture in the microwave
until it becomes a thick paste.
By cooking this mixture,
I'm gonna stash
that water in the flour.
It'll be there to keep
our bread nice and moist
when it bakes up,
but the dough is gonna be firm
and really malleable.
-Okay.
-This technique --
it's called tangzhong.
So I'm gonna cook this mixture
until it becomes thick
and pudding-like.
That takes 40 to 80 seconds.
I'll stop every 20 to give it a
quick whisk so it cooks evenly.
So nice and thick,
clings to the whisk.
I'm going to transfer it
to the bowl of our stand mixer.
Since this is hot,
I need to cool it down,
and I'm gonna do it with some
of our remaining ingredients.
I've got 1 whole egg --
and this is a large egg --
2 large egg yolks,
1/4 cup of water...
...2 tablespoons
of vegetable oil,
and I'm just gonna
whisk everything together.
Now, this does two things --
it cools that tangzhong down
so that it won't kill our yeast
when we get it in,
but it also loosens it up,
which makes incorporating it
into the rest of the ingredients
a lot easier.
-Otherwise, you might have
a little
dumpling inside your bread.
-Yeah, that would be no good.
-Exactly.
-So, last couple of ingredients.
I've got some bread flour here.
This is 2 3/4 cups,
1 1/4 teaspoons
of instant yeast.
You could also
use rapid-rise here.
-Okay.
-Just pop this
onto our stand mixer.
This usually takes maybe
3 or 4 minutes.
I'm mixing on low,
and all I'm going for here
is a nicely incorporated
mixture.
As long as
all the flour's moistened,
I don't have any dry spots
or wet spots,
we're good.
I'm just gonna turn this off.
We'll let this rest
for 20 minutes.
This rest, this autolyse,
will give the flour
time to hydrate.
It's been 20 minutes.
Time to get
the last two ingredients in.
I've got 1/4 cup
of granulated sugar here
and 1 teaspoon of table salt.
Now I'm going to turn this on,
and we'll knead at medium speed
until the gluten
is fully developed.
That usually takes 9 minutes.
-Okay.
-That looks great.
It's nice and elastic.
It looks really smooth.
Just gonna pull it off,
and we'll have a quick check.
Gonna give this a quick spray
because I'm gonna let the dough
rise in this bowl.
No need to dirty anything else.
-Nice.
-I'm just gonna give this
a quick knead
to bring it together
so it's nice and smooth,
and you can see
that you don't need any flour.
It's not sticking to anything.
Right in the bowl.
I really want to make sure that
the surface doesn't dry out,
so I'm gonna give it a quick
spritz and cover with plastic.
It's gonna rise until
it's about doubled in size.
It's about 1 1/2 hours,
depending on how warm
your kitchen is,
and it's just gonna
do its thing.
-Okay.
-Bridget, it has been
an hour and a half.
This dough has doubled in size.
It's time to braid.
-Alright.
-First thing, I'm gonna divide
it into four equal pieces,
and I'm gonna do that
by pressing it first
into an 8-inch square.
And while I'm doing this,
I'm keeping an eye out
for air bubbles.
Something like that
will quadruple in size,
and you'll end up with a hole
in your challah,
which we do not want.
-No one wants a hole
in their challah.
-[ Chuckles ] Nope.
I am looking for
an 8-inch square.
Great.
So now we're gonna
divide this first in half...
and then in half again
to get four strips.
-Okay.
-I am making
a four-strand braid.
I'm going to roll this
into 16-inch-long ropes,
and once I get it to 16 inches,
I'm gonna extend it
by another 2, tapering the ends.
I'm using this portion
of my hands
to just extend the ends
a tiny bit 'til I get to 18
and the ends are nicely tapered.
-Okay.
-This will get me
a nicely shaped finished loaf.
-Okay.
-So I'm gonna repeat that
with the rest of my dough.
Now we get to the braid.
-Alright.
We're gonna actually make
a plus sign with our strands,
and we're gonna let the tips
overlap by about 1/2 inch.
Now, I think of this
as kind of a clock.
Press this down so that
that portion stays put
and doesn't move around
as we braid.
You're gonna want to take
the 12:00 strand down to 5:00.
This 6:00 strand
goes up to 12:00...
9:00 to 4:00...
and 3:00 to 8:00.
And that is
our first set of braids.
-And you end up with an octopus.
-[ Chuckles ] Almost.
I will go ahead and neaten these
so that
they are perpendicular
and parallel to me again.
So again, it's 12:00 to 5:00,
6:00 to 12:00,
9:00 to 4:00, and 3:00 to 8:00.
Straighten...and one more time.
Down, up, over, over.
And I'm gonna bring that down.
Tuck all of these ends together
and give them a nice pinch.
-Look how cute that is!
-Tuck our ends underneath.
And here's our challah.
-Oh, my goodness.
-How great is that?
-That was kind of unbelievable.
-It's so simple, and it
makes you feel like a pro
because that's
a complicated-looking braid.
-It really is.
-We'll just put this onto
a sheet of parchment
that is on 2 rimmed
baking sheets.
The bottom of this loaf tends
to brown a little bit too fast.
By stacking my baking sheets,
I'm creating a tiny gap of air
that acts as an insulator.
It slows down the browning
of the bottom just enough.
Last thing, I want to cover it
while it rises.
That's going to help it rise
more evenly.
If I didn't cover it,
the exterior would dry out,
and then you'd get
some cracking.
It wouldn't be very attractive.
This is gonna double in size,
and so you want to make sure
the plastic wrap is draped
really loosely over the top
so that it doesn't hold
the dough in place
or mush it into weird shapes.
-Okay.
-But that's it.
We're gonna let this hang
for about three hours.
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Bridget, it's been three hours,
and you can see
this has expanded quite a lot.
It's about doubled in size.
-Exactly. That is beautiful --
before it goes into the oven.
-Yes, but it's gonna be
even better when it comes out.
I'm gonna do a quick test
to make sure
that it is fully proofed
and ready to go in.
Gonna go in and gently press
with my knuckle,
and what I want to see is that
it springs back a little bit
but not all the way.
-But not all the way.
-I've got 1 egg here.
I'm gonna add a pinch of salt...
and just beat that together.
And I really want to
take my time doing this
to get into all the little nooks
and crannies.
The egg-washed portions
are really glossy and beautiful,
and the un-egg-washed portions
are a little bit matte.
-Yeah, that's one of
the hallmarks of a good challah
is it's that beautiful
lacquered appearance.
-Yeah, it's just so appealing.
But you could also use this
egg wash as a glue and sprinkle,
say, a tablespoon of poppy seeds
or sesame seeds right on top,
if that's your jam.
I think this looks pretty great.
-You have done very well.
-I'm gonna bake this
in a 350-degree oven
on the middle rack
until it is deeply browned.
That takes 35 to 40 minutes.
-Oh, wow.
-Right?
Gorgeous.
-Wow!
Look at that.
[ Gasps ]
It is so beautiful.
-It's got a beautiful,
deep golden-brown color,
only took maybe 35 minutes
to get there.
Just to be sure,
I'm gonna take
the temperature of this bread.
I'm looking for it to be
anywhere above 195 degrees.
Bridget, nailed it.
So I'm gonna let this rest
for about 20 minutes
on this rack.
It'll be just cool enough
to handle.
Then I'll transfer it
to the wire rack,
where it will cool
the rest of the way.
That takes about 2 hours.
It's finally cooled.
Let's dig in.
-Oh, look at that crumb inside.
I mean, it is so plush.
-It's pillowy and tender.
-Oh, it smells so good, too.
-Just a hint of sweetness.
-Mmm!
Mmm.
There's beautiful development
in here, though,
the gluten and the structure.
If you'd used all-purpose flour,
you would have had a flat loaf.
-Yeah, this will hold up
to some custard,
whether you're in a French toast
or a bread pudding,
but it's not tough.
-Mm, mnh-mnh.
And it looks like you have
a little different braid
going on there.
-Yeah, I couldn't stop
with the braids,
and there's actually
a really simple method
to create a round loaf.
-You can get instructions
for that on our website.
Thanks, Lan. I am definitely
going to make this at home.
-I can't wait to see yours.
-So if you want to make
this beautiful loaf of challah
at home,
cook a little water and flour
together to make a paste,
use our unconventional braiding
method for a taller loaf,
and bake the bread
on 2 stacked baking sheets.
So from
"America's Test Kitchen,"
an incredibly approachable
yet velvety, tender,
plush, easy-braid challah.
And delicious.
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-It's hard to think of
an ingredient more important
in the kitchen than flour.
Without flour,
there's no fried chicken,
there's no Thanksgiving gravy,
and there's no birthday cake.
So here's what you need to know
about flour.
Let's start with flour
in its most natural,
simplest form,
which is whole-wheat flour,
I have here in front of me.
It has a nice, tawny color
that you can see.
It's ground
from the whole grain.
This has the bran,
as well as the germ.
We use it in a lot of recipes
specially formulated
for whole-wheat flour
because it absorbs liquid
differently.
You can -- that said --
replace a little bit
of the all-purpose flour
in a favorite recipe
with whole wheat.
No more than 50% or you may
have textural problems.
So next up, of course,
all-purpose,
and as the name implies,
all-purpose does it all,
from cakes and cookies
to pie dough.
We have two options here.
If you don't make
a lot of bread,
you may want to go
with the test kitchen favorite.
This is the Gold Medal.
It has a protein content
of 10 1/2%,
and basically,
more protein means more chew
when you're making breads.
Now, if you're somebody
who bakes some bread
and only want to keep
one flour on hand,
I'd probably go with
the other test kitchen favorite.
This is the King Arthur.
Rather than 10.5,
it has 11.7% protein content,
so it does a little better
in those chewy breads.
Now, if you're
a serious bread baker,
you're gonna want
to keep all-purpose flour,
as well
as a dedicated bread flour,
because the protein content here
is 12.7%,
a lot higher than all-purpose,
and if you want to make ciabatta
or sourdough,
you really need bread flour.
Finally, cake flour.
It's got a much finer texture.
We like bleached cake flour
because it absorbs liquid
a little bit better.
Protein content there
is just 6% to 8%.
Lastly, I want to talk to you
about measuring.
Now, I know you read a recipe,
and our recipes
do call for cups,
and you think
it's fine to just use a cup.
I'm gonna tell you,
nobody here uses cups
in the test kitchen.
Unh-unh.
It's not that accurate.
I'm gonna explain to you why.
Our preferred method
is called the dip and sweep.
So you dip the cup.
I've got too much in here.
I then sweep off the excess.
Ideally, 1 cup weighs 5 ounces.
And I only have 4.8,
and you're thinking,
"Hey, that's not so bad."
The problem is what if
it's 2 cups of flour
or 3 cups of flour
or 4 cups of flour?
And now suddenly,
I'm an ounce short,
or if I was
an aggressive dipper,
maybe I've got
an ounce too much,
and the texture of the baked
good is totally thrown off.
So please, do yourself a favor.
Do me a favor.
Next time
you're making a baked good,
put away the measuring cups
and get out your scale.
Thank you.
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-Rugelach, those delicate
rolled cookies
popular in Jewish bakeries
all over the world,
come in two distinct styles.
Now, one style is based on
a yeast dough
and it has more of
a bread-like texture,
while the other, which is
more popular here in the US,
is based on a cookie-like dough
that's enriched
with cream cheese,
and that's the style
that Erin's gonna make
for us today.
-Absolutely, Julia.
It's gonna be fun.
So what we're making
is basically,
almost like a cross between
a cookie and pastry,
and so you have
a lightly sweetened dough
that's gonna be wrapped around
a lot of fillings.
So jam, nuts,
chocolate sometimes.
Like, you can put anything
in these,
and they're fabulous.
-Great.
-We're gonna start over here,
and as you can see,
I have a food processor.
We wanted a flakier texture,
so we're gonna actually
use a food processor
where the blade cuts the fat in,
much like a pie dough.
So I have 11 1/4 ounces
of all-purpose flour.
I'm gonna add 1 1/2
tablespoons of sugar,
and I'm gonna add
1/4 teaspoon of salt.
You need salt. The salt helps
to bring out all the flavors.
Don't skip the salt.
Now I'm gonna pulse this
just to combine the ingredients.
So we have 2 sticks
of unsalted butter.
They're
quarter-inch-sized pieces.
Now I'm adding 8 ounces
of cream cheese.
This cream cheese is gonna
tenderize the dough,
and it's also gonna add
a little tang.
And last but not least,
2 tablespoons of sour cream.
Again, this is gonna add
a little bit of acid and tang
and help to tenderize the dough.
Now we're gonna cut the fat
into the flour,
so I'm gonna pulse this
about 16 to 20 times.
Pulsing is the key here,
and count.
Alright?
-[ Chuckles ]
-What we're looking for
is the mixture to turn into
the consistency of damp crumbs.
If it turns into a dough,
you've gone too far.
I'm gonna give it a test.
You want it to definitely
be pulsed enough, so your test
is to just pinch it together
to see if it comes together.
So now just gonna dump this
onto the counter.
Alright, so now we're really
going to kind of
pull it together
and press it together,
and I'm just gonna do it
in a couple of times.
-Wow.
-At first, it appears
like there's no hope.
-[ Laughs ]
-So we cut the butter in,
but we still had
little, tiny pieces.
And by just kind of
pushing it around
and massaging it, you're just
kind of smearing that,
and that's gonna give us
even more flakes in our cookies.
So I'm just pressing this
into a 9-inch log.
So I'm gonna cut this
into quarters.
-Alright.
-So you're just kind of
pulling it together.
-Like a pie dough.
-Yeah,
and just kind of press it.
We don't want to overwork it,
but we want it to come together
into a 4 1/2-inch disk.
-Okay.
-Okay.
So we have all of our 4 disks,
and they're looking
relatively equal in size.
-Mm-hmm.
-Now it's time to roll them out.
-Okay.
-And you're gonna help me.
-Okay.
-Hint, hint.
I gave you a rolling pin
and everything.
-I like helping.
-So we're gonna roll these out
in between plastic.
-Alright.
-We're gonna roll this
into a 9-inch circle,
and I typically
usually roll things out
between parchment paper,
and you can do that.
But you really have more control
when using plastic wrap
because you can actually see it
and adjust as you go.
It's important to make sure,
as with any dough
that you roll out,
you want it to be even,
so I always like
to run my hand over it
because often, the center
will be more rolled out
around the edges,
and you just want to make sure
that it's even.
There we have it,
so now we're just gonna
take the plastic wrap off
the top piece.
Top this with
a piece parchment paper,
and then this is, like,
the fun part.
At least I have fun doing it.
-[ Chuckles ] It is kind of fun.
-That looks great.
-Yeah.
-Now I'm just gonna
put this on a plate.
You're gonna put yours
right on top of mine.
-Okay. Alright.
-Are you up for another one?
-Oh, yeah.
-Excellent.
Once these are rolled out,
we're gonna put
all four rounds
into the freezer for 30 minutes.
-Okeydoke.
-We are
just about ready to roll.
Ready to roll?
-Am I ready to roll?
-Are you ready to roll?
You're always ready to roll.
So we're gonna start off with
2/3 a cup of apricot preserves.
I have my dirty
food-processor bowl.
-You sure do.
-You don't need to clean it.
Alright, so now we're gonna
process this
until it's smooth --
about 10 seconds.
Smells good.
-It does smell good.
-So now we have
our smooth preserves.
-Nice.
-Okay.
Next up, we have 1 cup of sugar.
-Mm-hmm.
-And we're gonna spike it
with a tablespoon of cinnamon.
-Ooh, that's a strong
cinnamon sugar.
-Yes, it is.
So, I'm gonna go grab
the frozen rounds.
Alright, so we have
our 30-minute-chilled rounds.
-Okay.
-You want to fill one with me?
-Yes, absolutely.
-Excellent.
You just want to loosen it
from the parchment.
-Okay.
-And then put it back
on the parchment.
-Alright.
-And that's it.
Now we are going to start
with our apricot preserves.
I'm gonna add 2 1/2 tablespoons
of apricot preserves
to the center.
We're just gonna
spread this around.
This is gonna be
kind of like the glue
for all of our
other ingredients.
Okay, so you're spreading it
almost all the way to the edge,
but leaving about
1/4-inch border,
which will make it
a little easier for you to roll.
-Alright.
-Right.
Next up,
our spiked cinnamon sugar.
So now we're gonna add
2 tablespoons
and sprinkle it
over the preserves.
We have golden raisins here,
1 cup,
and we have 2 cups
of finely chopped walnuts.
-Nice.
-So we're just gonna take
1/4 cup of golden raisins.
Next up, we're gonna add 1/2 cup
of finely chopped walnuts.
Now, this is gonna be like
the blanket.
-Alright.
-And now the next step here
is we're gonna actually
press them in.
That's it. Not a lot.
So we're gonna cut these
into 8 pieces.
We have a chef knife over there?
-We do.
-Perfect.
So just cut nice wedges.
-Do you go in half first?
-I do half, yep.
-Alright. I think I got it.
-And now grab your large
offset spatula,
and the goal here is to just
flip it under there.
Pull it out.
-Okay.
-Okay, so now we're gonna roll.
-Okay.
-You want to roll tightly,
but you don't want to squeeze
all the filling out.
So it's like a nice balance.
-Alright.
-So, some will fall out,
but it's okay.
So start at the thicker end,
and roll her up.
And then transfer it
to parchment paper,
and I like to put the point
so it's right underneath
the whole cookie.
And the ends I like to grab
and kind of tuck them down
so it's a crescent shape.
Alright.
Here's my last one.
How are you doing over there?
-I'm good.
-Those look great, Julia.
-Thank you. I've got better as
I went along, that's for sure.
-So these are
the crescent shape,
and I can also make
a roulade shape.
-Oh, nice. So you can find both
that alternate shaping method
and a few other variations
on the filling at our website.
-Absolutely. So you're up for
rolling the next round?
-You bet.
-Okay, so once we roll them
and fill them and shape them,
we're gonna freeze them
for 15 minutes,
but you can also freeze them
for up to six weeks if you want.
������
Alright, Julia, so these
have frozen for 15 minutes.
-Mm-hmm.
-The next step before
they go into the oven
is to brush them
with an egg wash,
so I made an egg wash
with 2 yolks
and 2 tablespoons of milk.
-Okay.
-And we're just gonna brush them
all over, get the ends.
-Should I be careful not
to get it on the parchment?
'Cause I can tell you right now,
I'm getting it on the parchment.
-Some dribbles are totally fine.
-Okay.
-Absolutely.
So don't forget the backs and
the fronts and the two tails.
We're gonna bake these
in an oven
that is heated to 375 degrees
on the upper-middle
and lower-middle racks,
and we're gonna rotate them
halfway through.
They're going to take
about 21 to 23 minutes.
-Mmm. Oh!
-Beautiful.
-Erin, they're gorgeous.
-Oh, smell that.
Can you hear the sizzle?
-You can see the sizzle.
-Absolutely. So one more step.
We're gonna take
the leftover cinnamon sugar.
We're gonna take
about a scant teaspoon
and sprinkle it on each cookie
as we go.
-Wow. Okay.
-So while they're hot.
You want to do it
while they're hot.
-Right, so that way,
some of the sugar
can melt into the dough.
-You got it. Yep.
Now that they have sugar,
we're gonna transfer them
from the tray
to our cooling rack.
-Okay.
-And it's a lot easier to do it
while they're hot.
Okay, so we're just gonna
let this cool completely,
and then we can dive right in.
It's time. It's time.
-I love that it's a nice,
big platter.
-Absolutely.
-Alright.
I just got to break this open.
Oh, look at that.
You can see the flakes of dough
on the outside of the cookie.
-Yep.
-You can see those flakes,
but it didn't crumble apart
in my hands.
It's holding together.
-Yep. Absolutely.
-Mmm.
-Mmm.
-Mm-hmm.
So good.
You can taste all the individual
ingredients from the filling,
but it's a very cohesive,
complex flavor.
And the dough, the crust --
it's part cookie,
part pie dough.
-Yeah.
-It is the perfect marriage
of all these textures.
-It's very bright, sweet,
nutty, rich, flaky,
crispy, crunchy...tender.
-Erin, this really
was fun to make. Thank you.
-Absolutely. You're welcome.
This was a lot of fun.
-To make
perfectly tender rugelach,
make the dough in
a food processor using butter,
cream cheese, and sour cream.
Freeze the dough before shaping,
then fill it and freeze again
before baking.
From "America's Test Kitchen,"
a satisfying recipe
for rugelach.
You can find this recipe
and all the recipes and product
reviews from this season,
♪♪
♪♪
♪♪
-Today on
"America's Test Kitchen,"
Lan makes Bridget
a fool-proof challah,
Jack talks about
different types of flour,
and Erin makes Julia
crescent-shaped rugelach
with raisin-walnut filling.
It's all coming up right here
on "America's Test Kitchen."
♪♪
-Some bread recipes have
a long history baked right in,
like challah.
It's revered not only
for its religious importance,
but also for its flavor,
its texture,
the beautiful braids and twists.
Now, Lan's here, and she's going
to tell us all about her journey
to craft a loaf of challah
that was respectful of history
but approachable enough
for the home cook.
-I learned how to make challah
by testing a couple of recipes
on my own, but also by going to
the experts.
Made a trip
to Rosenfeld's Bagels in Newton,
and there, I met Mike Lombardo.
He's the owner of the bakery,
and he and his crew
make hundreds of loaves a day.
And what I learned was
you need a dough that bakes up
nice and tender and plush,
but it needs to be firm enough
that you can work with it
while it's raw.
-That's quite the balance
you have there.
-It is, it is,
but we have a couple of tricks
that we learned here
in the test kitchen
that we're gonna apply.
-Okay.
-And it starts with
these ingredients.
I've got 3 tablespoons
of bread flour here,
and I'm gonna add
1/2 cup of water.
Whisk them together,
and then I'm gonna cook
this mixture in the microwave
until it becomes a thick paste.
By cooking this mixture,
I'm gonna stash
that water in the flour.
It'll be there to keep
our bread nice and moist
when it bakes up,
but the dough is gonna be firm
and really malleable.
-Okay.
-This technique --
it's called tangzhong.
So I'm gonna cook this mixture
until it becomes thick
and pudding-like.
That takes 40 to 80 seconds.
I'll stop every 20 to give it a
quick whisk so it cooks evenly.
So nice and thick,
clings to the whisk.
I'm going to transfer it
to the bowl of our stand mixer.
Since this is hot,
I need to cool it down,
and I'm gonna do it with some
of our remaining ingredients.
I've got 1 whole egg --
and this is a large egg --
2 large egg yolks,
1/4 cup of water...
...2 tablespoons
of vegetable oil,
and I'm just gonna
whisk everything together.
Now, this does two things --
it cools that tangzhong down
so that it won't kill our yeast
when we get it in,
but it also loosens it up,
which makes incorporating it
into the rest of the ingredients
a lot easier.
-Otherwise, you might have
a little
dumpling inside your bread.
-Yeah, that would be no good.
-Exactly.
-So, last couple of ingredients.
I've got some bread flour here.
This is 2 3/4 cups,
1 1/4 teaspoons
of instant yeast.
You could also
use rapid-rise here.
-Okay.
-Just pop this
onto our stand mixer.
This usually takes maybe
3 or 4 minutes.
I'm mixing on low,
and all I'm going for here
is a nicely incorporated
mixture.
As long as
all the flour's moistened,
I don't have any dry spots
or wet spots,
we're good.
I'm just gonna turn this off.
We'll let this rest
for 20 minutes.
This rest, this autolyse,
will give the flour
time to hydrate.
It's been 20 minutes.
Time to get
the last two ingredients in.
I've got 1/4 cup
of granulated sugar here
and 1 teaspoon of table salt.
Now I'm going to turn this on,
and we'll knead at medium speed
until the gluten
is fully developed.
That usually takes 9 minutes.
-Okay.
-That looks great.
It's nice and elastic.
It looks really smooth.
Just gonna pull it off,
and we'll have a quick check.
Gonna give this a quick spray
because I'm gonna let the dough
rise in this bowl.
No need to dirty anything else.
-Nice.
-I'm just gonna give this
a quick knead
to bring it together
so it's nice and smooth,
and you can see
that you don't need any flour.
It's not sticking to anything.
Right in the bowl.
I really want to make sure that
the surface doesn't dry out,
so I'm gonna give it a quick
spritz and cover with plastic.
It's gonna rise until
it's about doubled in size.
It's about 1 1/2 hours,
depending on how warm
your kitchen is,
and it's just gonna
do its thing.
-Okay.
-Bridget, it has been
an hour and a half.
This dough has doubled in size.
It's time to braid.
-Alright.
-First thing, I'm gonna divide
it into four equal pieces,
and I'm gonna do that
by pressing it first
into an 8-inch square.
And while I'm doing this,
I'm keeping an eye out
for air bubbles.
Something like that
will quadruple in size,
and you'll end up with a hole
in your challah,
which we do not want.
-No one wants a hole
in their challah.
-[ Chuckles ] Nope.
I am looking for
an 8-inch square.
Great.
So now we're gonna
divide this first in half...
and then in half again
to get four strips.
-Okay.
-I am making
a four-strand braid.
I'm going to roll this
into 16-inch-long ropes,
and once I get it to 16 inches,
I'm gonna extend it
by another 2, tapering the ends.
I'm using this portion
of my hands
to just extend the ends
a tiny bit 'til I get to 18
and the ends are nicely tapered.
-Okay.
-This will get me
a nicely shaped finished loaf.
-Okay.
-So I'm gonna repeat that
with the rest of my dough.
Now we get to the braid.
-Alright.
We're gonna actually make
a plus sign with our strands,
and we're gonna let the tips
overlap by about 1/2 inch.
Now, I think of this
as kind of a clock.
Press this down so that
that portion stays put
and doesn't move around
as we braid.
You're gonna want to take
the 12:00 strand down to 5:00.
This 6:00 strand
goes up to 12:00...
9:00 to 4:00...
and 3:00 to 8:00.
And that is
our first set of braids.
-And you end up with an octopus.
-[ Chuckles ] Almost.
I will go ahead and neaten these
so that
they are perpendicular
and parallel to me again.
So again, it's 12:00 to 5:00,
6:00 to 12:00,
9:00 to 4:00, and 3:00 to 8:00.
Straighten...and one more time.
Down, up, over, over.
And I'm gonna bring that down.
Tuck all of these ends together
and give them a nice pinch.
-Look how cute that is!
-Tuck our ends underneath.
And here's our challah.
-Oh, my goodness.
-How great is that?
-That was kind of unbelievable.
-It's so simple, and it
makes you feel like a pro
because that's
a complicated-looking braid.
-It really is.
-We'll just put this onto
a sheet of parchment
that is on 2 rimmed
baking sheets.
The bottom of this loaf tends
to brown a little bit too fast.
By stacking my baking sheets,
I'm creating a tiny gap of air
that acts as an insulator.
It slows down the browning
of the bottom just enough.
Last thing, I want to cover it
while it rises.
That's going to help it rise
more evenly.
If I didn't cover it,
the exterior would dry out,
and then you'd get
some cracking.
It wouldn't be very attractive.
This is gonna double in size,
and so you want to make sure
the plastic wrap is draped
really loosely over the top
so that it doesn't hold
the dough in place
or mush it into weird shapes.
-Okay.
-But that's it.
We're gonna let this hang
for about three hours.
������
Bridget, it's been three hours,
and you can see
this has expanded quite a lot.
It's about doubled in size.
-Exactly. That is beautiful --
before it goes into the oven.
-Yes, but it's gonna be
even better when it comes out.
I'm gonna do a quick test
to make sure
that it is fully proofed
and ready to go in.
Gonna go in and gently press
with my knuckle,
and what I want to see is that
it springs back a little bit
but not all the way.
-But not all the way.
-I've got 1 egg here.
I'm gonna add a pinch of salt...
and just beat that together.
And I really want to
take my time doing this
to get into all the little nooks
and crannies.
The egg-washed portions
are really glossy and beautiful,
and the un-egg-washed portions
are a little bit matte.
-Yeah, that's one of
the hallmarks of a good challah
is it's that beautiful
lacquered appearance.
-Yeah, it's just so appealing.
But you could also use this
egg wash as a glue and sprinkle,
say, a tablespoon of poppy seeds
or sesame seeds right on top,
if that's your jam.
I think this looks pretty great.
-You have done very well.
-I'm gonna bake this
in a 350-degree oven
on the middle rack
until it is deeply browned.
That takes 35 to 40 minutes.
-Oh, wow.
-Right?
Gorgeous.
-Wow!
Look at that.
[ Gasps ]
It is so beautiful.
-It's got a beautiful,
deep golden-brown color,
only took maybe 35 minutes
to get there.
Just to be sure,
I'm gonna take
the temperature of this bread.
I'm looking for it to be
anywhere above 195 degrees.
Bridget, nailed it.
So I'm gonna let this rest
for about 20 minutes
on this rack.
It'll be just cool enough
to handle.
Then I'll transfer it
to the wire rack,
where it will cool
the rest of the way.
That takes about 2 hours.
It's finally cooled.
Let's dig in.
-Oh, look at that crumb inside.
I mean, it is so plush.
-It's pillowy and tender.
-Oh, it smells so good, too.
-Just a hint of sweetness.
-Mmm!
Mmm.
There's beautiful development
in here, though,
the gluten and the structure.
If you'd used all-purpose flour,
you would have had a flat loaf.
-Yeah, this will hold up
to some custard,
whether you're in a French toast
or a bread pudding,
but it's not tough.
-Mm, mnh-mnh.
And it looks like you have
a little different braid
going on there.
-Yeah, I couldn't stop
with the braids,
and there's actually
a really simple method
to create a round loaf.
-You can get instructions
for that on our website.
Thanks, Lan. I am definitely
going to make this at home.
-I can't wait to see yours.
-So if you want to make
this beautiful loaf of challah
at home,
cook a little water and flour
together to make a paste,
use our unconventional braiding
method for a taller loaf,
and bake the bread
on 2 stacked baking sheets.
So from
"America's Test Kitchen,"
an incredibly approachable
yet velvety, tender,
plush, easy-braid challah.
And delicious.
������
-It's hard to think of
an ingredient more important
in the kitchen than flour.
Without flour,
there's no fried chicken,
there's no Thanksgiving gravy,
and there's no birthday cake.
So here's what you need to know
about flour.
Let's start with flour
in its most natural,
simplest form,
which is whole-wheat flour,
I have here in front of me.
It has a nice, tawny color
that you can see.
It's ground
from the whole grain.
This has the bran,
as well as the germ.
We use it in a lot of recipes
specially formulated
for whole-wheat flour
because it absorbs liquid
differently.
You can -- that said --
replace a little bit
of the all-purpose flour
in a favorite recipe
with whole wheat.
No more than 50% or you may
have textural problems.
So next up, of course,
all-purpose,
and as the name implies,
all-purpose does it all,
from cakes and cookies
to pie dough.
We have two options here.
If you don't make
a lot of bread,
you may want to go
with the test kitchen favorite.
This is the Gold Medal.
It has a protein content
of 10 1/2%,
and basically,
more protein means more chew
when you're making breads.
Now, if you're somebody
who bakes some bread
and only want to keep
one flour on hand,
I'd probably go with
the other test kitchen favorite.
This is the King Arthur.
Rather than 10.5,
it has 11.7% protein content,
so it does a little better
in those chewy breads.
Now, if you're
a serious bread baker,
you're gonna want
to keep all-purpose flour,
as well
as a dedicated bread flour,
because the protein content here
is 12.7%,
a lot higher than all-purpose,
and if you want to make ciabatta
or sourdough,
you really need bread flour.
Finally, cake flour.
It's got a much finer texture.
We like bleached cake flour
because it absorbs liquid
a little bit better.
Protein content there
is just 6% to 8%.
Lastly, I want to talk to you
about measuring.
Now, I know you read a recipe,
and our recipes
do call for cups,
and you think
it's fine to just use a cup.
I'm gonna tell you,
nobody here uses cups
in the test kitchen.
Unh-unh.
It's not that accurate.
I'm gonna explain to you why.
Our preferred method
is called the dip and sweep.
So you dip the cup.
I've got too much in here.
I then sweep off the excess.
Ideally, 1 cup weighs 5 ounces.
And I only have 4.8,
and you're thinking,
"Hey, that's not so bad."
The problem is what if
it's 2 cups of flour
or 3 cups of flour
or 4 cups of flour?
And now suddenly,
I'm an ounce short,
or if I was
an aggressive dipper,
maybe I've got
an ounce too much,
and the texture of the baked
good is totally thrown off.
So please, do yourself a favor.
Do me a favor.
Next time
you're making a baked good,
put away the measuring cups
and get out your scale.
Thank you.
������
-Rugelach, those delicate
rolled cookies
popular in Jewish bakeries
all over the world,
come in two distinct styles.
Now, one style is based on
a yeast dough
and it has more of
a bread-like texture,
while the other, which is
more popular here in the US,
is based on a cookie-like dough
that's enriched
with cream cheese,
and that's the style
that Erin's gonna make
for us today.
-Absolutely, Julia.
It's gonna be fun.
So what we're making
is basically,
almost like a cross between
a cookie and pastry,
and so you have
a lightly sweetened dough
that's gonna be wrapped around
a lot of fillings.
So jam, nuts,
chocolate sometimes.
Like, you can put anything
in these,
and they're fabulous.
-Great.
-We're gonna start over here,
and as you can see,
I have a food processor.
We wanted a flakier texture,
so we're gonna actually
use a food processor
where the blade cuts the fat in,
much like a pie dough.
So I have 11 1/4 ounces
of all-purpose flour.
I'm gonna add 1 1/2
tablespoons of sugar,
and I'm gonna add
1/4 teaspoon of salt.
You need salt. The salt helps
to bring out all the flavors.
Don't skip the salt.
Now I'm gonna pulse this
just to combine the ingredients.
So we have 2 sticks
of unsalted butter.
They're
quarter-inch-sized pieces.
Now I'm adding 8 ounces
of cream cheese.
This cream cheese is gonna
tenderize the dough,
and it's also gonna add
a little tang.
And last but not least,
2 tablespoons of sour cream.
Again, this is gonna add
a little bit of acid and tang
and help to tenderize the dough.
Now we're gonna cut the fat
into the flour,
so I'm gonna pulse this
about 16 to 20 times.
Pulsing is the key here,
and count.
Alright?
-[ Chuckles ]
-What we're looking for
is the mixture to turn into
the consistency of damp crumbs.
If it turns into a dough,
you've gone too far.
I'm gonna give it a test.
You want it to definitely
be pulsed enough, so your test
is to just pinch it together
to see if it comes together.
So now just gonna dump this
onto the counter.
Alright, so now we're really
going to kind of
pull it together
and press it together,
and I'm just gonna do it
in a couple of times.
-Wow.
-At first, it appears
like there's no hope.
-[ Laughs ]
-So we cut the butter in,
but we still had
little, tiny pieces.
And by just kind of
pushing it around
and massaging it, you're just
kind of smearing that,
and that's gonna give us
even more flakes in our cookies.
So I'm just pressing this
into a 9-inch log.
So I'm gonna cut this
into quarters.
-Alright.
-So you're just kind of
pulling it together.
-Like a pie dough.
-Yeah,
and just kind of press it.
We don't want to overwork it,
but we want it to come together
into a 4 1/2-inch disk.
-Okay.
-Okay.
So we have all of our 4 disks,
and they're looking
relatively equal in size.
-Mm-hmm.
-Now it's time to roll them out.
-Okay.
-And you're gonna help me.
-Okay.
-Hint, hint.
I gave you a rolling pin
and everything.
-I like helping.
-So we're gonna roll these out
in between plastic.
-Alright.
-We're gonna roll this
into a 9-inch circle,
and I typically
usually roll things out
between parchment paper,
and you can do that.
But you really have more control
when using plastic wrap
because you can actually see it
and adjust as you go.
It's important to make sure,
as with any dough
that you roll out,
you want it to be even,
so I always like
to run my hand over it
because often, the center
will be more rolled out
around the edges,
and you just want to make sure
that it's even.
There we have it,
so now we're just gonna
take the plastic wrap off
the top piece.
Top this with
a piece parchment paper,
and then this is, like,
the fun part.
At least I have fun doing it.
-[ Chuckles ] It is kind of fun.
-That looks great.
-Yeah.
-Now I'm just gonna
put this on a plate.
You're gonna put yours
right on top of mine.
-Okay. Alright.
-Are you up for another one?
-Oh, yeah.
-Excellent.
Once these are rolled out,
we're gonna put
all four rounds
into the freezer for 30 minutes.
-Okeydoke.
-We are
just about ready to roll.
Ready to roll?
-Am I ready to roll?
-Are you ready to roll?
You're always ready to roll.
So we're gonna start off with
2/3 a cup of apricot preserves.
I have my dirty
food-processor bowl.
-You sure do.
-You don't need to clean it.
Alright, so now we're gonna
process this
until it's smooth --
about 10 seconds.
Smells good.
-It does smell good.
-So now we have
our smooth preserves.
-Nice.
-Okay.
Next up, we have 1 cup of sugar.
-Mm-hmm.
-And we're gonna spike it
with a tablespoon of cinnamon.
-Ooh, that's a strong
cinnamon sugar.
-Yes, it is.
So, I'm gonna go grab
the frozen rounds.
Alright, so we have
our 30-minute-chilled rounds.
-Okay.
-You want to fill one with me?
-Yes, absolutely.
-Excellent.
You just want to loosen it
from the parchment.
-Okay.
-And then put it back
on the parchment.
-Alright.
-And that's it.
Now we are going to start
with our apricot preserves.
I'm gonna add 2 1/2 tablespoons
of apricot preserves
to the center.
We're just gonna
spread this around.
This is gonna be
kind of like the glue
for all of our
other ingredients.
Okay, so you're spreading it
almost all the way to the edge,
but leaving about
1/4-inch border,
which will make it
a little easier for you to roll.
-Alright.
-Right.
Next up,
our spiked cinnamon sugar.
So now we're gonna add
2 tablespoons
and sprinkle it
over the preserves.
We have golden raisins here,
1 cup,
and we have 2 cups
of finely chopped walnuts.
-Nice.
-So we're just gonna take
1/4 cup of golden raisins.
Next up, we're gonna add 1/2 cup
of finely chopped walnuts.
Now, this is gonna be like
the blanket.
-Alright.
-And now the next step here
is we're gonna actually
press them in.
That's it. Not a lot.
So we're gonna cut these
into 8 pieces.
We have a chef knife over there?
-We do.
-Perfect.
So just cut nice wedges.
-Do you go in half first?
-I do half, yep.
-Alright. I think I got it.
-And now grab your large
offset spatula,
and the goal here is to just
flip it under there.
Pull it out.
-Okay.
-Okay, so now we're gonna roll.
-Okay.
-You want to roll tightly,
but you don't want to squeeze
all the filling out.
So it's like a nice balance.
-Alright.
-So, some will fall out,
but it's okay.
So start at the thicker end,
and roll her up.
And then transfer it
to parchment paper,
and I like to put the point
so it's right underneath
the whole cookie.
And the ends I like to grab
and kind of tuck them down
so it's a crescent shape.
Alright.
Here's my last one.
How are you doing over there?
-I'm good.
-Those look great, Julia.
-Thank you. I've got better as
I went along, that's for sure.
-So these are
the crescent shape,
and I can also make
a roulade shape.
-Oh, nice. So you can find both
that alternate shaping method
and a few other variations
on the filling at our website.
-Absolutely. So you're up for
rolling the next round?
-You bet.
-Okay, so once we roll them
and fill them and shape them,
we're gonna freeze them
for 15 minutes,
but you can also freeze them
for up to six weeks if you want.
������
Alright, Julia, so these
have frozen for 15 minutes.
-Mm-hmm.
-The next step before
they go into the oven
is to brush them
with an egg wash,
so I made an egg wash
with 2 yolks
and 2 tablespoons of milk.
-Okay.
-And we're just gonna brush them
all over, get the ends.
-Should I be careful not
to get it on the parchment?
'Cause I can tell you right now,
I'm getting it on the parchment.
-Some dribbles are totally fine.
-Okay.
-Absolutely.
So don't forget the backs and
the fronts and the two tails.
We're gonna bake these
in an oven
that is heated to 375 degrees
on the upper-middle
and lower-middle racks,
and we're gonna rotate them
halfway through.
They're going to take
about 21 to 23 minutes.
-Mmm. Oh!
-Beautiful.
-Erin, they're gorgeous.
-Oh, smell that.
Can you hear the sizzle?
-You can see the sizzle.
-Absolutely. So one more step.
We're gonna take
the leftover cinnamon sugar.
We're gonna take
about a scant teaspoon
and sprinkle it on each cookie
as we go.
-Wow. Okay.
-So while they're hot.
You want to do it
while they're hot.
-Right, so that way,
some of the sugar
can melt into the dough.
-You got it. Yep.
Now that they have sugar,
we're gonna transfer them
from the tray
to our cooling rack.
-Okay.
-And it's a lot easier to do it
while they're hot.
Okay, so we're just gonna
let this cool completely,
and then we can dive right in.
It's time. It's time.
-I love that it's a nice,
big platter.
-Absolutely.
-Alright.
I just got to break this open.
Oh, look at that.
You can see the flakes of dough
on the outside of the cookie.
-Yep.
-You can see those flakes,
but it didn't crumble apart
in my hands.
It's holding together.
-Yep. Absolutely.
-Mmm.
-Mmm.
-Mm-hmm.
So good.
You can taste all the individual
ingredients from the filling,
but it's a very cohesive,
complex flavor.
And the dough, the crust --
it's part cookie,
part pie dough.
-Yeah.
-It is the perfect marriage
of all these textures.
-It's very bright, sweet,
nutty, rich, flaky,
crispy, crunchy...tender.
-Erin, this really
was fun to make. Thank you.
-Absolutely. You're welcome.
This was a lot of fun.
-To make
perfectly tender rugelach,
make the dough in
a food processor using butter,
cream cheese, and sour cream.
Freeze the dough before shaping,
then fill it and freeze again
before baking.
From "America's Test Kitchen,"
a satisfying recipe
for rugelach.
You can find this recipe
and all the recipes and product
reviews from this season,