Grandma’s cozonac

Name: Grandma’s cozonac
Ingredients: 400 g flour; 200 ml milk; 50 g fresh yeast; 2 tablespoons sugar; 2 egg yolks; 1/4 teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons melted margarine or oil; 250 g fresh curd cheese; 2 eggs; 50 g sugar; 1 tablespoon semolina; 1 tablespoon grated orange zest; 200 g walnuts; 150 g poppy seeds; 100 g colored Turkish delight; 150 g raisins; 1 tablespoon oil; 1 tablespoon flour; 2 tablespoons water; 2 tablespoons sugar

Dessert - Grandma’s cozonac by Marioara G. - Recipia

Grandma’s cozonac, a Romanian sweet bread with fresh curd cheese, walnuts and poppy seeds, is served at holiday meals, sliced once cooled. The dough rises twice and is baked as three rolls, with a soft crumb and a thin sheen of sugar water. I cut thick slices, so there’s plenty of filling in each one. Preparation: 30 minutes. Cooking: 25 minutes. Resting: 110 minutes. Total time: 165 minutes. Serves: 12. Approximately 480 kcal and 14 g protein per serving.

Ingredients

For the dough

400 g flour
200 ml milk
50 g fresh yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
2 egg yolks
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons melted margarine or oil

For the filling

250 g fresh curd cheese
2 eggs
50 g sugar
1 tablespoon semolina
1 tablespoon grated orange zest
200 g walnuts
150 g poppy seeds
100 g colored Turkish delight
150 g raisins

For the pan

1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon flour

For brushing

2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons sugar

Preparation

1. Warm the milk until lukewarm. Mix it with the yeast, the 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of the measured flour, until you have a creamy yeast mixture. Leave it somewhere warm for 10-15 minutes, until airy. 2. Put the remaining flour in a bowl and add the yeast mixture, the 2 egg yolks and the salt. Knead for 10 minutes, then knead in the 3 tablespoons of melted margarine or oil at the end. The dough should be smooth and elastic. 3. Cover the bowl and leave the dough somewhere warm for 30-35 minutes, until it has visibly risen. 4. Mix the fresh curd cheese with the eggs, sugar, semolina and orange zest. Stir in the chopped walnuts, ground poppy seeds, diced Turkish delight and raisins. 5. Divide the dough into three. Roll out each piece, divide the filling between them and roll them up. Grease the pan with oil and dust it with flour, then place the rolls in it. 6. Bake in a well-heated oven at 200°C for 20-25 minutes, until golden and a toothpick inserted into the dough comes out clean. 7. Mix the water and sugar well and brush the rolls while they’re hot. Leave them to cool in the pan for 60 minutes, then transfer them to a platter.

Notes

Once cooled, wrap them and keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You can serve them with black tea, alongside their sweet filling. In the cheese mixture, you can use 250 g well-drained ricotta instead of the fresh curd cheese; they contain gluten, dairy, eggs and nuts. In a warmer place, the dough rises faster, so keep an eye on its volume. If the cheese is watery, leave it to drain, and finely chopped walnuts spread more evenly through each roll.