Cozonac receipe

Ingredients (for 2 cozonaci)

1kg wheat flour, 300gr sugar, 1l milk, 150ml sunflower oil, 80gr yeast,
5 eggs, 6 small sachets of vanilla sugar, 4 small essences of rum
(from Dr. Oetcker), 400gr ground walnut, 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon of
salt, 2 tablespoons of cocoa. Also you need another egg for greasing
the cozonaci and some tablespoons of sugar for cocoa.

How to do it

Put the flour and the salt in a large basin and make a hole in the
middle of the flour where you will put the “maia”. To make “maia”, you
have to mix the yeast with a teaspoon of sugar and half of a cup of
warm milk in a bowl, until the yeast is disolved. Then put this “maia”
in the whole that you make it in the flour, sprinkle with a little bit of
flour and wait for a few minutes to grow up.

1.. Ιn the same time mix the sugar (300gr) with 150 ml milk and
warm them. If they are too hot, let them to cool, so to be warm.

2.. Also in another bowl mix 4 yolks, 1 white/glair with the

vanilla sugar, the essences of rum and lemon zest.

3.. Also in a small pot warm the rest of the milk that have, you
will need it from time to time, but it has to be warm.

So now that you prepared everything and the “maia” doubled its
size, you can start to knead the dough. In the basin with flour you
have to add numbers 1 and 2 and mix them with your hands (one hand
for the beginning, both later). You can also use the kitchen
add/robot, but I never use it, I knead the dough with my hands.
Then you have to add milk from number 3, little by little, as much as
the knead will receive (usually around 500ml) and knead the dough
for 45 minutes. (Or at least 35-40 minutes. It is important for
dough to be kneated for long time, so it will grow up fluffy). Don t
put all the milk for the verry beginnnig, just little by little, firstly all
number 2, and then number 3.

After you finish kneating and the dough is soft enough and
elastic, add 150 ml sunflower oil, also little by little, and continue
kneating for 15 minutes. After you put the oil, you are not allowed to
add anything else milk or whatever, otherwise it will not grow up. so
make sure before adding the oil that the dough it soft and elastic
enough. I has to be a little bit softer that the bread’s dough.

After this, cover the basin with a clean kitchen towel and let it
to rest in the kitchen. Remember that the room must be warm, so
the dough needs warm temperature to grow up big and fluffy. Let it
to rest around 1hour – 1 hour and a half better.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. In a large bowl mix the ground

walnuts with 2 tablespoons of cocoa, 2-3 tablespoons of sugar, 2
small sachets of vanilla sugar, some lemon juice, 2 egg whites
whipped foam and, if need it, a little bit of milk so as to have a filling
that is not hard, nor soft, something between. And taste it and make
it as you like it. But it is better not to be that sweet. And divide it
into 4 parts.

Prepare the pots. You need 2 long pots. Put inside some baking
paper. If you wet the paper, you can fix it better inside the pot.

After the dough grew up big enough, sprinkle some flour on the
table. Take half of the dough out of the basin and again divide it into
2 halves. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough. Then put one part of
the walnut flling. Roll the dough. Make another one (from the other
half) and then knit the two pieces. Put the final big piece into the
pot. And the same with the other part of the dough that you have it
in the basin. After you finish, cover them with a towel and let them
grow up again for around 40 minutes, or how much they need.

10-15 minutes before putting them in the oven, preheat the

oven (250 degrees C).

When the cozonaci are grown enough, grease them with an egg
yolk. Put them in the oven, 180-200 degrees C, for 40-50-60
minutes. Depends on your oven… I always have problems with electric
oven here, because I never know if it is enough baked or no… : ))
Don’t open the oven’s door in the first 30 minutes. After that, if the
top turns to brown, but they are not cooked yet, cover the top with
aluminium foil. Try to see if they are baked enough using a toothpick
or any wooden thin stick that you have. Put it inside the cozonac and
if it is clean when you take it out, then they should be baked enough.

Take out the pots, wait for them to cool down and after that
you can take the cozonaci from the pot. They should be fluffy. It is
not really possible to cut them in slices in that day, but after one day
at least, but I never rezist not to eat a small piece after they are
cool enough.

That’s it! Gutten Appetit. I hope I explained clear enough. It

not that easy to make them, it take time, the secret consists in how
well you kneat the dough, but they are worthy. 