You'll need:

- 350g of sourdough levain (sourdough starter + 175g water + 175g flour)

- 550 spelt flour

- 150g caster sugar

- 110ml milk

- 150g butter (melted but room temperature)

- 2 eggs

- 1 pack of vanilla sugar (or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract)

- splash of lemon juice

- 5g salt

- almonds to sprinkle on top just before it goes in the oven

Make a sourdough levain and leave for 12 hours. Once it has risen and is ready to be used, mix all ingredients and kneed until smooth and elastic (about 20-30 min if doing by hand, 10 min using a mixer). Cover the bowl and leave in the fridge for around 20-24 hours. Take out of the fridge, split dough into 9 parts, roll into long strips and braide the challah (I recommend watching a youtube video on how to do that). Once braided, cover with a cloth and put in the fridge for another 18 hours. Preheat the oven to 250 and makes sure to add water to a bottom baking sheet, so that the oven is steamy. Brush the challah with an egg wash, sprinkle with flaked almonds and put in the oven. Lower temperature to 200 and bake for 15 min. Then lower to 170 and bake for another 40-50min until caramelized. Leave to cool down completely, at least for 3 hours.