I feel like this week needs no witty introduction.  Cheesecake challah. It’s hard to imagine anything better. Here’s how I did it:

The basic recipe included a healthy dose of cream cheese (12 ounces for a 5-lb batch of challah) in place of the oil, as well as some vanilla extract.  It gave the challah a nice dairy tanginess and a certain rich creaminess that you just don’t see in non-cheesecake-inspired challahs.  But the real glory is in what comes next…