Challah bread with caramel apples

There is nothing better than a morning with a flavour of freshly baked bread. I stuffed my challah bread with apples covered in a caramel. Some cinnamon, butter and even the greyest day seems to look better….
(attention: adding some raisins can take you straight to the heaven!)

Ingredients
dough:
4 g dry yeast (1/2 package)
7 fl oz (200 ml) milk
1,7 oz (50 g) sugar
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
½ tbsp salt
17 oz (500 g) wheat flour
2 eggs (plus to brush the challah bread)
1,7 oz (50 g) butter (melted and cooled)
Filling:
4 apples
2 tbsp butter
2 teaspoons corn starch
4 tbsp brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 tbsp powder sugar
1 tbsp almond flakes

Method
Whisk the warm milk with yeast and 1 tbsp sugar. When yeast melts add flour, sugar and salt. Whisking add eggs and butter. Knead the dough until smooth and elastic. Form the dough in a ball, coat with oil (as you don’t want it to stick to the pan) and put aside in a warm place for about 2 hours until doubled in size. During this time punch the dough twice, so it will get ‘flat’ and airless again.
Prepare the apple filling.
Wash the apples, dice. Melt sugar in a pot (make the caramel). Add apples, salt, vanilla and butter. Cook until apples are soft and all ingredients combine creating the smooth sauce. In ¼ cup water melt starch and pour it in the apple mixture. Bring it to boil. Cool down.
Divide the dough in 3 pieces. Roll out each into flat piece. In a centre of each piece put some apple mixture. Roll each piece into a strand. Braid into desired loaf shape.
Place in the greased pan ( I used porcelain one and formed the challah in a spiral shape), cover with cling film and let in doubled in size (for about 30 min.). Brush the dough with the whisked egg (you can sprinkle it with almond flakes). Bake for about 1 hour at 360F (180 oC) – until golden brown and the toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Sprinkle with powder sugar.