In a medium mixing bowl combine warm milk (30 C degree), honey, yeast and 250g flour. Stir with a balloon whisk until smooth. Wrap with a cling film and set aside the challah starter (called poolish) for 2 hours rising.

After 2 hours, combine your poolish with rest of the ingredients. Melt the butter first and set aside to cool down. In a large mixing bowl combine 250g flour, sugar, one whole egg and one yolk, pinch of salt. Mix it roughly with hand and add your poolish and butter. Knead the dough first in a bowl, then on a kitchen counter. You can add more flour now (but no more than 50g) if your dough is wet and sticky. Form a ball from the dough and place it in a bowl for proofing. Wrap with plastic wrap and set aside for next 2 hours.

Now, to braid your challah, divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece into a thin sausage-shape, roughly 60cm long. Place the strands next to each other vertically and pinch together at the top. Grasp the leftmost strand and pass in to the right, under the two strands adjacent to it, and then back toward the left, over one strand (the one closest to it now). Grasp the rightmost strand and pass it to the left, under two strands adjacent to it (which have already been braided), and then back to the right, over the strand. When done braiding, pinch the ends of the strands together. Leave your challah for next 50-60 minutes to prove.

Pre-heat the oven to 180 C degree. Use the remaining egg white to glaze the challah. Sprinkle over the brown sugar and bake for 50-55 minutes or until golden. Cool down on a rack. After 20 minutes you can slice your challah bread.