Tu B’Av – Time For Peace & Love

Tu B’Av – Time For Peace & Love Thursday ● August 7th 2025 – 13ֿ$ 3 pm (ET) ● 2 pm (CT) ● 12 pm (PT) ● 9 pm (CEST) ● 10 pm (EEST/Israel)   If you can’t make it live, the recording will be available for 2 months so you can revisit the content, take notes, and practice at your own pace. What a beautiful opportunity to connect, express love, and embrace the energy of Tu B’Av with the art of challah braiding. This special moment invites you to braid a challah filled with intention, symbolizing the joy and unity of love. As we prepare for this unique day, let the challah represent the bonds we build and the love we nurture.   Here’s what you’ll discover: Two Heart-Shaped designs – Learn how to create two unique versions of heart-shaped challah for your loved ones or just for yourself. Create your own style – Get practical tips on how to explore and develop your own key-shaped challah variations. Dough handling for visual perfection – Learn how to roll, stretch, and handle the dough to achieve clean lines, balanced shapes, and stunning visual results. Safe space for Q&A – While this is a shaping-only workshop, Idan will happily answer questions about dough preparation for those who are curious. During the session, I’ll use grams as the measurement unit, a universal standard for accuracy in baking. If you don’t yet have a kitchen scale, I highly recommend getting one to elevate your baking game!   How can you get ready for this session? This is an observation-based workshop, so all you need is: Yourself: Watch, relax, and enjoy the session. A notebook and pen: Take notes, tips, techniques, and any questions you may have to ask me later when it’s time for Q&A. If you’re an experienced challah baker and wish to follow along, you can prepare a batch of dough in advance using 2.2lbs (1 Kilo) of flour, ensuring it’s already proofed and ready to work with.   Answering your questions before you ask: Your recipe doesn’t include eggs. Can it be? Yes, it can. It’s all a matter of personal preference. Eggs can shorten the shelf life of the Challah because the proteins (egg whites) harden over time. My focus is on sharing braiding and art, not recipes. You can use any recipe you feel comfortable with.   Do you make gluten-free challah? Unfortunately no. My expertise lies in braiding and the artistic side of the challah. The gluten-free dough doesn’t give the flexibility for braiding that regular dough does.   Is “white wheat flour” the same as “whole wheat”? No, whole wheat flour is entirely different from white wheat flour, which can be all-purpose or bread flour. I like combining 50% all-purpose flour and 50% bread flour to get the flexibility of all-purpose flour with the strength of bread flour, which typically contains more gluten.   ​How do I know when the dough is proofed enough? Proper dough proofing is a must for a light and soft challah. Overproofing or underproofing can affect the texture and the taste. So if you ever wondered why your dough smells like alcohol probably because it’s overproofed, and if you get your Challah dense, that means it was underproofed. In a warm environment, proofing usually takes 1-1.5 hours.   Why does my challah split during baking? Challah may split for several reasons:

• Under kneading – Knead your dough for about 12 minutes, preferably using a mixer to develop strong gluten.
• Under-proofing during the second rise – Make sure the dough has doubled in size before baking.
• Low oven temperature – If the oven isn’t hot enough, the yeast doesn’t deactivate, or to put it simply, the yeast doesn’t die so fast, leading to continued fermentation and splitting. Preheat the oven properly before baking!

If you have any questions, I’d love to hear from you! Feel free to send your questions to [email protected], and I’ll answer them during our Zoom session. Love&Challah, Idan Chabasov Challah Prince’s Recipe Braiding Challah with the Challah Prince Video Challah Prince in Costa Rica