Tropical Zone Gardening: It's the season to be jolly... so there's no... without..., 0 by goofybulb

goofybulb wrote:
And now the recipe. Don't worry, the real making takes longer than reading it, LOL!...

Cozonac (plural: cozonaci)
Quantities for 1 kg of flour (this usually gives me 3 cozonaci, of about 1-1 1/2 lbs each):
• 1 KG flour
• 200 oil (sun-flower or vegetable oil)
• 300gr sugar for the dough and an extra 2 tablespoons per eggwhite for the nut filling.
• 60gr fresh yeast (1 pack dry yeast = 17 grams fresh yeast) (so about 3.5 packs dry yeast per 1 kg flour – I use “Fleishmann’s rapid rise dry yeast).
• vanilla essence – 1 teaspoon.
• 7 eggs (large) plus 1 egg for the crust
• gritted lemon zest from 1 lemmon
• 100 wallnuts (about 1 lb), grinded.
• butter (for oiling the baking forms)
• 1/2 liter milk.
• a pinch of salt.
• rum essence – 1 tablespoon in the dough and 1 tablespoon in the filling
• 2 tablespoons cocoa

How to make it:
Very important: all ingredients should be at room temperature before starting (special attention to the eggs, you have to take them out of the refrigerator at least 2-3 hours in advance!!!) – except for the milk, that you will warm up on the stove…

The dough:
1. Break the 7 eggs apart and separate the whites from the yolks (the yellow stuff) carefully, so no yolk breaks into the whites. The whites will be used for the nut stuffing, the yolks for the dough.
2. add the pinch of salt to the yolks, break them and stir in them until homogenous.
3. the milk is placed on the stove under low heat to warm up
4. put the yeast in a bowl or cup with 2-3 spoons warm milk and 1 spoon of sugar so it rehydrates and starts a bit of rising (air bubbles start to form).
5. while the yeast is rehydrating, add the sugar (300 grams) and the spices (lemon zest, 1 teaspoon vanilla essence, 1 spoon rum essence) in the rest of the warmed milk. Stir until sugar is dissolved. The temperature of the milk should be around 36-40°C (you can hold your little finger in it and it doesn’t burn you)
6. put the flour in a large form (where you’ll be doing the kneading). Remember thet the dough will rise, so the bowl/recipient has to be big enough to hold it for the initial rising!!!).
7. as by now the yeast should start to bubble a bit, add the yeast and the yolks (wash the remaining yeast and yolks from the bowls with a bit of the warm milk and pour it in the flour as well) and the warmed spiced and sugared milk to the flour, and start mixing with your hands until everything is homogenous. Stop kneading when the dough starts forming bubbles. The dough consistency should be medium and elastic.
8. start adding the oil gradually, in about 2-3 batches, kneading each time to incorporate the oil into the dough. You will notice that the dough becomes softer, but still elastic. It also should be easily removed from hands (not sticky anymore) and you should still notice tearing bubbles in it.
9. cover the recipient with the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let it rise,while you prepare the filling. Keep the dough warm (turn AC off or, if it is cold inside the house, place the recipient in front of the open hot oven, about 1 meter away)

The filling:
1. Beat the egg whites with a mixer until foam seems solid. Then add the sugar (2 spoons for each egg white = 14 spoons) (I add the sugar in 3-4 batches) and continue beating until sugar is all incorporated.
2. Add 1 spoon rum essence and 2 spoons cocoa powder. Mix well (on slow, so cocoa doesn’t fly away from the mixing bowl).
3. finish the filling cream by adding the grinded nuts. The filling should be creamy in consistency, but you should be able to yake out from it with a spoon and should not leak from the spoon. Kind of like an intermediate between soft cheese and sour cream consistency)

Shaping and baking the “cozonaci”:
By the time you finish preparing the filling, the dough should have risen a bit. So start preparing the shapes.
1. rub the insides of the baking forms with butter, so it is spread in a thin and uniform layer. You do this so they wouldn’t stick to the pan during and after baking).
2. estimate by eye how much dough you would need to fill about 1/3 of the backing form (with the filling added, they shoud occupy ½ of the form). Remove that amount of dough from the main recipient and place it on the perfectly clean table (it’s best to grease the table with oil or butter before, so the dough doesn’t stick on the table while you mold it). If it tends to stick to your hands, grease them with a bit of oil or butter. Split that amount of dough in two.
3. take the first lump of dough and flatten it gently so you get a square (more or less) of dough on the table, that is about 0.5-1 cm thick. Spread nut filling over it (about 0.5 cm thick). (Do not get scared if the dough tends to come back or shrink, it is elastic, remember…) Start rolling the square so it becomes a baguette.
4. do the same thing from the other lump of dough.
5. as the two rolls are done, place them next to each other and start braiding them (wrap one on the other). This will provide the nice wavy surface of the cozonac. If you don’t feel confortable about this, just go back to steps 2 and 3 without splitting the dough in two. This will give you a flat-surfaced cozonac.
6. once the braiding (or, if you want to skip it, the rolling) is done, carefully lift the whole thing and place it in your backing tray (greased with butter, remember!?).
7. repeat these steps with the rest of the dough (1 kilo usually yields me 3-5 cozonaci, depending on the size of the baking trays.)
8. let it rise in the baking tray until the cozonac rises to the rim of the baking pan (be patient, this may take time, ½ hour (at least) to 1 hour (the usual time))
9. at this point, take 1 egg (also room temp, you don’t want to ruin your cake now, at the last moment!!!) and break it in a small bowl. Break the yolk and beat the egg like for omelet. Either with your finger or with a small kitchen brush, spread a thin layer of egg on the surface of the risen cozonac (If egg is cold, the dough will regress!). you can then sprinkle on top a bit of granulated sugar, or decorate it with walnut halves, if you want).
10. put the cozonaci in the oven at 310-315 degrees (I usually fit in 3 at a time). This temperature will give them enough time to finish rising and bake in about 1 hour.
11. DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN IN THE FIRST 30 MINUTES!!!
12. after 45-50 minutes, check on them: if they gained a dark golden-bronzed color, you should test if the inside is baked as well. You do this with a toothpick as follows: poke one of them with a toothpick until almost all the toothpick is inside. Then quickly remove it from the cozonac.
a. If the toothpick comes out clean, than it is baked inside, and if you are satisfied with the crust color, you can take them out.
b. If the toothpick comes with pieces of dough or crumbs, it still needs more baking. From now on, you can check on them every 10 minutes, until they are ready)
13. after you remove them from the oven, let them cool down in the baking forms for about ½ hour, then carefully remove them from the tray by gentle shaking. Let them cool down completely, and then
14. ENJOY!