This week, PJ Library's UK branch celebrates five years of providing children with Jewish books. Tthey asked me to help them celebrate their birthday with a number five shaped challah.

To create your own, you'll need a challah dough made with 1.5kg of flour. I recommend that amount of dough for each number or letter you want to make. That should feed 8 – 10 people.

Here are a few tips on how to get started: 

• To form the number/letter, create long, thin challah braids by rolling out the dough into a thin, flat recangle.
   
• Use a pizza cutter to cut long, thin strips of dough with smooth edges.
   
• Shape the number on a baking paper-lined baking tray so there’s no need to move it once shaped.
   
• Make the number big enough so it will keep its shape after the dough has expanded during the bake.
   
• Before baking, fill any gaps in the number (such as the centre hole in a zero) with scrunched up foil so they do not close up during the bake.
   

Insta: challahmummy