Cozonac cu Nuca (Romanian Walnut Roll)
Cozonac cu nuca is a traditional Romanian sweet bread filled with lots of walnuts. Not only does it looks gorgeous, but it tastes fantastic. It is not really sweet at all, but nutty. It is light and fluffy and goes great as a snack or with a morning cup of coffee.
Ingredients
- 1 kg flour
- 200 g sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 7 g dry yeast
- 6 egg yolks
- 500 ml milk, warm
- 150 g butter, melted
- a splash of vanilla extract or rum
For the walnut filling:
- 300 g walnut kernels
- 100 g sugar
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 150 ml milk, hot
For brushing on top:
- 1 egg yolk
- 2 tbsp milk
- 4 tbsp syrup (sugar + water)
Instructions
- In a bowl, sift the flour together with yeast and salt. Add lightly beaten egg yolks and warm milk, in which you have previously dissolved the sugar. Start to knead by gradually adding the melted butter. Knead until you get a dough that no longer sticks to your hands.Place the dough in a bowl greased with oil.
- Cover with a kitchen towel and leave it to rise until it doubles in volume, about 2 hours.
- In the meantime, prepare the filling. Add the walnuts to a food processor and pulse a few times until the nuts are finely ground, then place them in a bowl. Add sugar and cocoa powder. Pour the hot milk little by little. It may take more or less.Mix well until you get a creamy filling that can be spread.
- Divide the dough into four. Roll each dough into a rectangle on a lightly oiled surface, spread the walnut cream on each rectangle, and then roll each rectangle into a roll.Weave the rolls two by two and put them in the slightly greased loaf pans. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave them to rise for about an hour. Mix the egg yolk with milk and brush the top of the loaves.
- Bake the cozonaci in the hot oven at 180ºC for about 45 minutes. When you take them out of the oven, brush them with sugar and water syrup.Let it cool (if you can), then slice and enjoy.
