Usually, honey would simply be absorbed into the dough, but Silverman says there was a layer that oozed out of the challah. But eight years ago, her mother called her around Rosh Hashanah to tell her about a honey-stuffed challah she had tried at a friendвЂ™s house. Louis with her motherвЂ™s classic braided challah. Tear into a Mandylicious challah, and you might find cookies and cream, rainbow sprinkles, honey-drenched phyllo dough (the Baklavallah), or even meaty fixes like corned beef and buffalo chicken. Mandy Silverman of in Sharon, Massachusetts, regales her 33,600 followers with challah flavors that seem dreamed up by the unfettered creativity of a toddler. This sense of joy fuels the best bakers in the niche (but quickly growing) world of challah art. I had this joy and just knew I wanted to do it.вЂќДЇor the most influential challah bakers out there, challah will always be about carbs, creativity, and a culinary link to Jewishness. вЂњWhen I made challah, I felt centered,вЂќ she says. ThereвЂ™s a seven-strand wild yeast sourdough, challah pizza, granola challah, to say nothing of her artistic designs, like the cactus flower-shaped beet and turmeric challah, her heart-shaped vegan challah, and her вЂњfancy-schmancyвЂќ hamsa challah-her most popular design on Instagram. Today, Holbert is the sole proprietor of Nomad Bakery ( and her more than 10,000 Instagram followers know her through her grid of nontraditional challah braids. The latter is true for Cheryl Holbert of Derry, New Hampshire, who began baking challah more than 30 years ago, when she discovered that her motherвЂ™s side of the family were Polish Jews. ItвЂ™s an inclusive food, and for the most influential challah bakers out there, challah will always be about carbs, creativity, and a culinary link to Jewishness. But some of the most popular challah bakers and artists will tell you that challah is still about bringing people together to celebrate. And, if they do stick with a classic three-strand braid, then the rich, eggy dough is stuffed with anything from mint chocolate chips to ribbons of salami.ДЄ cynical observer might scroll through Instagram and assume the worst for challah-that itвЂ™s gone the way of the overwrought chef burger or maximalist cheese boards. Instagram and TikTok bakers have largely eschewed the traditional braided challah in favor of more complicated techniques that have the alluring visual impact of an M. And itвЂ™s clear that something transformative has been happening to the traditional Jewish Shabbat centerpiece. What do turkeys, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Baby Yoda all have in common? TheyвЂ™ve all been rendered in the artistic medium that is challah. The eggy Jewish bread may be centuries old, but a handful of enterprising (and extremely online) bakers have changed the game forever.

Hays rich eggy challah