Want to add an extra special touch to your next festive meal? How about decorating your challahs, or challah rolls with cookie cutter shapes? It's really so much fun (and something the kids would love to help with) and your guests will certainly be surprised as this isn't something one often sees (is it?) I snuck in a little extra time to decorate these challahs for Shavuous, and thought I'd share the idea with you, since you can certainly use it anytime.
And as you may know, the challahs that we eat at our shabbat and holiday tables are in fact the most important part of the meal, so spending a little extra time to bake them yourself (here's my favorite recipe) and even decorate them is truly worthwhile! Your creative touch will make your guests and family feel truly special, and I figure if I'm gonna be in the kitchen why not use my creativity there too?
For these challah decorations I tried to roll out the dough as thin as possible, and I used 3 different flower shaped cookie cutters, and a heart shaped cookie cutter for some of the leaves. I cut the heart shape in half to make a leaf, and added the veins with a knife. I made the little dots with a skewer, and added some little balls here and there. While I made these with the same dough as the challah, it just occurred to me that if one wants to do this with really professional results, it would pay to make a small amount of dough without any yeast, such that the designs will rise less and retain their details more. (When I try this I'll let you know if my reasoning is sound!) Enjoy!
