Lilac Challah Bread

Lilac Braided Challah

It's such a beautiful spring!  The season has been especially kind to the lilacs, which are bursting out everywhere.  Last week, I made lilac sugar.  While I watched the bouquet of lilac blossoms on my table begin to wilt, I decided to use them to make a lilac Challah bread.  

I used the lilac sugar in the recipe, but I also stripped off the petals of one of my blossoms and added it to the dough in the mixing stage.  For the recipe, I used Peter Reinhardt's The Bread Baker's Apprentice Challah recipe.  But instead of the SAF Red Instant yeast that I'll use for lean doughs, I used the Gold SAF Instant Yeast instead. And, for added richness, I replaced two of the eggs in this recipe with duck eggs.  

Lilac Challah Dough

Now, It's been a while since, I've braided anything, so I had to practice getting used to the tension in the bread dough, but we got there.  I was so pleased with the beautiful the strands of petals weaving through the dough. 

Lilac Challah Braids

They proofed beautifully and then baked at 325 convection for about 45 minutes until they reached an internal temp of 200 degrees.  

Lilac Challah Bread

And finally, served with a little local raw honey...

Sliced Lilac Challah Bread with Drizzled Honey