Ali Mendelson has been baking challahs for years. And she's gotten pretty darn good at it. So when Pride Month came along, she decided to one-up herself and infuse her bread with color.
Since Mendelson already had all the skills to pull it off, the end result was a puffy rainbow, just begging to be eaten. But before devouring it, Tumblr user mystic-chord decided to share photos of her mom's challah to really acknowledge her efforts. The pictures immediately went viral and as of this article, mystic-chord's post has well over 70K notes. Continue scrolling and check out what all the fuss is about!
"My mom taught herself how to make challah," mystic-chord told Bored Panda. "She's been making it almost every week for fifteen years. She took a recipe from a cookbook and adapted it over the years to make it her own. She also used to make soap, which influenced the visual aspect of the pride challah. In terms of the actual skills for the colors, she winged it!"
The challah is famous for its rich, slightly sweet flavor, shiny golden crust, and pillowy interior, and mystic-chord said her mom's was every bit of it. "The challah was delicious! It was sweet and fluffy, and it made killer French toast," the daughter said. "My mom especially enjoys her challah topped with Earth Balance and honey. A lot of people thought it might taste weird because of the food coloring but since we used gel food colors, we couldn’t taste a difference."
And it wasn't only Mendelson's daughter who liked it. It went from 45 notes, to 600, to over 70,000 in a relatively short amount of time. "My mom made a post on Facebook about the challah which got a decent amount of attention from her friends, but nothing like the post I made on Tumblr. My little blog with 12 followers blew up, and now I have over 100!" She said it was also crazy to see people reposting it on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and it gaining popularity on those platforms as well.
Since the post became so viral, Mendelson baked more rainbow challahs and documented the entire process
"My mom loves that she inspired people to make challah. Even more than that, she loves that so many queer Jewish people felt loved and accepted because of her challah."
Mendelson's awesome celebration of Pride Month comes during a very special year for the whole LGBTQ+ community. June 2020 marks the 50th anniversary of its tradition. The first Pride march in New York City was held on June 28, 1970, one year after the Stonewall Uprising. The rainbow challah perfectly shows that you don't need to spend a fortune or organize something grand in order to celebrate what makes you happy. If it's genuine and makes you happy, it's enough.
Here's what people said after feasting their eyes on the delicious challah online
