more fun with (challah) braids

I've stopped baking challah weekly because I just can't eat that much challah. Or shouldn't, at least. I'm part of the FB group Holla for Challah, and I am constantly in awe of the gorgeous braids some of the bakers produce. They instantly make me want to bake more challah. You can see the conundrum. I guess the best bet would be to bake it as often as I want and find friends to give it to, and then I can practice all the braids I want.

Here are some fun braids I was playing around with. The first are hearts, and those were pretty successful. The second was inspired by someone from Holla for Challah, who made a gorgeous round sheaf of tiny braids. I made ten or so skinny braids and tried wrapping them around each other, but it did not come out nearly as pretty as hers did. Not quite a fail - it was totally edible! - but just not as pretty as I hoped. The baker actually shared with me a hand-drawn diagram of how she laid out her braids, which was not quite what I had imagined, so I might try it again soon.

The hearts are simply two six-strand braids, tapered at one end, bent toward each other to form a heart.

Here are all my little braids. I did a few different twists and sizes purposely. I think longer, skinnier braids and twists probably work best here.

First attempt.

Then I rearranged the braids a little to have the effect where they were sticking out a bit. Pro tip: don't play with your proofing bread too much; it will definitely affect the rise!