Can you identify this challah-like pastry?

April 23, 2008 6:20 AM

Can you identify this challah-like pastry from my childhood? I've had no luck googling or randomly searching at bakeries.

When I lived with my parents in the 70's and early 80's, my Dad used to pick up rolls that were a lot like challah bread. They were 5 or 6 inches in diameter, with a thin, glossy brown crust and a pale yellow crumb--maybe a little denser than challah--suffused with orange zest. The roll itself wasn't very sweet but it was coated in a thin, clear, orange-flavored sweet glaze and topped with coarse sugar.

My Dad called them mo-NAH. This name could have been mispronounced or misread, and could have been made up by the bakery in any case.

Do they sound familiar? Are they a known, common recipe or something invented by the (Tucson, AZ) bakery that I'll never find again?

posted by magicbus to food & drink (7 comments total)

Mohn is German for poppy---this isn't quite what you're describing, but it does look like challah. Maybe something here?
posted by brujita at 6:52 AM on April 23, 2008

Just sounds like some sort of pan dulce. Mona could be a slang name for the pastry meaning something like "cutie."

Can you identify the pastry that assaulted you in this line-up.
posted by Pollomacho at 6:54 AM on April 23, 2008

No poppy seeds, and they weren't very similar to any pan dulce that I've had. They looked more or less like the roll labelled 89-2390 in this picture from the German site.
posted by magicbus at 7:27 AM on April 23, 2008

Looks, and sounds, like brioche. Brioche is a lot like challah bread.
posted by sindas at 8:53 AM on April 23, 2008

Could it have been an asian, dim-sum-esque thing?
posted by jeffamaphone at 9:02 AM on April 23, 2008

I think you're right, sindas, they could definitely have been made with brioche dough. Quite rich and eggy, with that kind of crust. They didn't have the traditional shape with the round thing on top, but I see from the various pictures online that there's no reason they have to be made that way.
posted by magicbus at 9:35 AM on April 23, 2008

I'm going to go with the brioche assumption and try out a recipe. Thanks, everyone!
posted by magicbus at 3:41 PM on April 23, 2008