Challah and Mixed Berry Pot Pies

Yesterday my lovely friend Emma and I made my Mama's challah recipe, which is infamous in my family; from what I hear, the news is spreading fast. I hate when people claim a recipe to be "the best," but I don't care because I can without a doubt (I've surveyed the challah eating population) tell you that this is the best challah ever. No joke, this is some kind of revolutionary bread material. It's not dense like many homemade challahs and it is also not too airy or dry like most store bought ones. It is fluffy, but not too fluffy, perfectly eggy, has that wonderful pull-apart crumb characteristic of a good brioche, and it makes ridiculously tasty french toast. That said, I'm not giving you the recipe, I'm sorry. Usually I'm the sharing type, but this one you have to earn; it's not the kind of thing you just throw around on the internet.
Now that you all think I'm mean, I'll tell you about these little guys: Mixed Berry Pot Pies. First off, I am never making these again! Not because they aren't wonderfully delicious and crazy precious, but because they are stupid labor intensive. I made the dough in four batches in the robo coupe, weighed them all into 3 oz balls, pressed them into 4 inch circles, wrapped them and threw them in the reach-in for 4 hours. To assemble I had to roll out each piece again and cut into 3 1/2 inch rounds and then carefully assemble these little babies. Halfway through making these, I came close to loosing my sanity. That said, these would be a breeze to make at home. The recipe itself is not difficult, it's only get crazy when you try to make enough for 150 people.

Unlike a typical crisp or cobbler, the filling has tapioca as thickener along with the cornstarch and also has a splash of cream and a pat of butter on top before the pastry dough goes on top. The dough is especially wonderful because it involves lots of cream cheese. It's like a rich, sweet, creamcheesy biscuit dough. The guests are in for a special treat, because this is a one time menu item.