Dear Rabbi Simon
I was baking challah today and I became distracted and forgot to perform the mitzvah of hafrashat challah (separating the designated portion) from the dough. I only realised my oversight after the challot came out of the oven (gorgeous and begging to be tasted). Help! Can I still eat/serve/enjoy these challot?
Donna
Dear Donna
All is not lost! You may still perform the mitzvah of separating challah even once the dough has been baked into bread. Simply separate a ke-zayit [olive-size, about 30gm] of bread and recite the berachah in the usual way. Just leave out the final two words, min ha-‘iysa (“from the dough”), for reasons which are self-explanatory.
Enjoy and Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Rashi Simon