Makes: One round pull-apart challah
30 minutes active time; 2 hours, 10 minutes wait time; 35 minutes bake time (all told 3 hours, 15 minutes)
Special equipment: A 9x2-inch round cake pan and a digital thermometer
Note: Feel free to sub canola oil for butter and water for milk
2¼ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon plus 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/3 cup warm water
4 tablespoons (57 grams) unsalted butter, cut up
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2/3 cup (163 grams) milk
2 large egg yolks
3-3¼ cups (420-455grams) bread flour
About 2 tablespoons (28 grams) unsalted butter, softened, for bowl and pan
¼ teaspoon sesame seeds, optional
Glaze: 1 egg yolk whisked with 1/2 teaspoon cream and a pinch of salt
1. Proof: Drop yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer. Test water: A drop should feel neither hot nor cold on the wrist. Pour in water. Let stand until yeast turns foamy, about 5 minutes.
2. Scald: Meanwhile, measure the remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, cut-up butter, and salt into a bowl or quart-size measuring cup. Pour milk into a medium saucepan. Set over high heat and watch closely. In 2-3 minutes it will bubble, foam, and rise up dramatically. Immediately pull pan off heat and pour milk over butter, sugar, and salt. Let stand until butter has melted and milk has cooled down. With a fork, mix in the egg yolks, further cooling mixture. You’re after the same tepid temp as in step 1.
3. Knead: Pour milk mixture over yeast, then drop in 3 cups flour. Mix with a fork until it’s rough going. Snap bowl onto mixer stand and, using the dough hook and low speed, knead a full 10 minutes. It will quickly form a soft dough that cleans the sides of the bowl and wraps around hook. (If the dough looks more like a swamp monster than a ball, sprinkle in the remaining flour, a little at a time, until you achieve the ball look.)
4. Rest: Smear a clean bowl with about 2 teaspoons softened butter. Gently stretch dough and tuck it underneath itself, shaping the ball. Rub ball with about 1 teaspoon softened butter. Settle ball into bowl. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel. Let dough rise until doubled in size and until a thumb pressed in the center leaves a distinct imprint, about 50 minutes. Slide hands down the side of the bowl and under the dough, deflating dough. Stretch and tuck dough into a ball again, rub with a little more butter, settle it back into the bowl, and let dough double again, about 40 minutes. Deflate.
5. Shape: Adjust one oven rack to the center position. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Rub remaining softened butter along bottom and sides of the cake pan. Divide dough into 16 portions. Stretch and tuck each into a ball. Settle into prepared pan (1 in the center, surrounded by 5, surrounded by 10). Brush glaze over challah. Sprinkle with seeds, if you like. Let rise until puffy, about 40 minutes.
6. Bake: Bake until bumps turn rich brown and the space between the bumps turns golden brown, and until bread reaches an internal temperature of 195 degrees, about 30-32 minutes. Turn out bread and let it cool on a rack.