Valentine’s Challah

Cook the beetroots until they begin to get soft. Blend the beets with three tablespoons of the cooking juice. Let it cool down.

In the stand mixer’s bowl add the beet purée, honey, yeast, egg, flour and olive oil. Don’t mix.

Start kneading the dough until start coming together.

Knead for 4 min. Add the salt.

Change the speed of the mixer one level up. Add the panettone add-ins. Mix for 8 min.

Round the dough and place in a greased bowl covered with a towel. Let it rest until doubled in size.

Divide as you like, I divided this beauty to 8 pieces of 110 gr each (for 2 separate challahs).

Round each piece to a ball. Cover with a towel and let it sit for 10 min.

Open the balls to strands and braid the two separate challahs with one side of the challah slightly thinner than the other one.

Shape the two challahs to a heart shape as seen in the video.

Let her proof. You know it is ready to be baked when you touched the strands (gently!!!!!) and it bounces back slowly.

Indulge the with egg yolk with a sip of water. Brush the challah but do not make a pool of egg on the challah. Light Brushing. We don't want an omelette on our bread!

Bake in a preheated oven to 380F or 190C for about 22 min. If the top of the challah gets brown to fast, cover the top with an aluminium foil.

Cool the challah on a rack.

Give the challah to your lover! Or to your date tomorrow night!