Orange Blossom Chocolate Challah Bread Food

ORANGE-CHOCOLATE BREAD PUDDING

Steps:

• Heat the milk, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup orange juice concentrate in a saucepan over medium-low heat until the sugar dissolves, stirring. Cool slightly. (It's OK if the mixture curdles slightly.)
• Whisk the milk mixture, 2 tablespoons bourbon and the whole eggs and yolks in a large bowl; fold in the bread. Cover and refrigerate until the liquid is absorbed, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Fold the chocolate chunks into the bread mixture. Spread evenly in the baking dish and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the sauce: Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and cook, stirring, until lightly caramelized, 5 to 6 minutes. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup orange juice concentrate, 3/4 cup bourbon and the salt. Cook until thick, 10 to 15 minutes. Stir in the cream and simmer until the sauce coats a spoon, about 10 more minutes. Slice the bread pudding and drizzle with the sauce.

ORANGE JUICE CHALLAH

Steps:

• In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the flour, sugar, yeast, orange zest and salt and whisk together. In a medium bowl, whisk together the water, orange juice, oil and 2 of the eggs.
• Add the wet to the flour mixture; stir to combine. Knead, either by hand on a floured surface or with a dough hook on medium speed for 7 to 10 minutes, adding more flour as necessary (but resist any urge to add too much!), until you have a smooth and slightly sticky dough.
• Transfer the dough to a large oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until doubled in size, about 2 hours. (Alternatively, chill the dough in the refrigerator overnight, then let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before shaping.)
• Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Divide each into 3 logs and braid. Place on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper, spacing them evenly apart. Cover loosely and let rise 30 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining egg and 1 tablespoon water. Brush the loaves with egg wash and sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake until they are golden and have an internal temperature of 190 degrees F; begin checking for doneness at 18 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool slightly and enjoy. (Challah is best eaten within 24 hours. After that it's ok if you toast it or use it for French toast. It also freezes well!)

ORANGE CHOCOLATE CHIP BREAD

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F & grease an 8"x4" loaf pan.
• In a small bowl, combine orange zest, orange juice & boiling water & let stand for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda & salt.
• In another bowl, beat together the egg, butter & vanilla, then when the OJ mixture is ready, add that to this mixture, before stirring this mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened.
• Fold in the chocolate chips, then pour into the prepared loaf pan & bake 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.
• Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing the loaf from the pan & putting it upright on the wire rack.

CHOCOLATE CHALLAH

Steps:

• Mix the warm water, 1/3 cup canola oil, honey, 2 eggs and salt in a large mixing bowl until thoroughly combined.
• Add the bread flour and cocoa powder and mix until dough is a shaggy mess.
• Add the instant yeast and mix well.
• Now add the all-purpose flour one cup at a time, until too thick to stir.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, and continue to add flour while kneading for about 10-15 minutes.
• When you are done kneading the dough will bounce back at you when you press on it. The surface will no longer be sticky or come off on your fingers, but will be tacky to the touch, like a post-it note.
• Pour the 2 Tbsp canola into a mixing bowl, and coat the bottom and sides with oil.
• Put the dough in the oiled bowl, and flip the dough around to uniformly coat with oil.
• Cover the bowl and set in a warm spot to rise until doubled. (For me this was about 2 hours.).
• Punch down dough and separate into loaves. Loaves can be braided like traditional challah, or baked in a bread loaf pan, or formed into any shape you like.
• Put formed loaves aside to rise a second time, covered, until doubled in size. (This took about 2 1/2 hours for me.).
• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Just prior to baking, mix one remaining egg with a bit of water (about a teaspoon or so) and a small pinch of salt. Use this mixture to glaze the loaves.
• Bake loaves for 30 minutes, rotating once midway to keep browning even.
• Cool on racks.
• Freezes well.