Cozonaci (sweet bread) Day – The recipe that never fails
Probably each of us remembers, and if not, what a pity, the day of preparing the Christmas cookies…
The grandmother, the chief general of the war of the ‘cozonaci’, with the white fishnet tied above her head, was organizing the ingredients weighed in the scale from the evening before, on the spread table in the kitchen, so that they were all at the same temperature, at a soft heat, the fire already being extinguished in the stove.
In the morning, first thing in the morning, the victory of the bakers began. With her face scarlet from heat and grave at the same time, to give the others an impression of domineering security, Mother Lenuța kneaded the yellow and aromatic dough, with patience and determination, until all the fat was absorbed by the huge amalgam of dough, so that from sticky it became elastic and airy, full of air bubbles.
The brown enamel pot, huge and heavy, was on the stove. In the meantime, the aromatic filling of sugar, vanilla, rum, cocoa and lots and lots of walnuts was being prepared. When the dough covered with the white linen cloth reached the ceiling, the buns were filled, braided and placed in the tray, where their meditation began.
The oven was the altar of a church on the night of Resurrection. The procession of bakers was preparing in secret to arrive in line, like soldiers in a regiment, in the unknown and mysterious mouth of the furnace cleansed by the burning embers.
In the kitchen it was childhood and Christmas was beginning… the stove spread a warmth that preached even more alluringly the good smell of the winter holidays. The delicate aromas promised delicious culinary delights that over time, for me, have not lost their flavor.
In the flaky silver frame of winter, the buns were hurried out of the kitchen and crunched by the snow underfoot, hurried into the oven in the yard. Last to enter were the baby cozonac, the three granddaughters’ personalized cozonac, round and fresh, placed in old enamel cups, which completed the platoon. No one was talking. Emotions of the same kind….Only glances directed towards the oven, in a scorching torrential summer heat, released by the mouth of the oven. And finally, the victory was first hinted at by the smell, then by the ruddy appearance of the braids, like freshly braided maidens’ braids.
On the long table in the storeroom, the metropolitans of the dough, the Christmas cakes of childhood, seemed to be gathered at a Diocesan Assembly. The chickens, cooling off on the porch windowsill, witnessing in passing all the delicacies carefully prepared by the grandmother, were postponed from being enjoyed until the evening. I don’t know how it was done, but the day of the cozonacs always overlapped with the day we took communion, which meant a forced siesta after coming from church and the devouring of the cozonacs in the evening, accompanied by a cup of “cut” must, a sweet wine for the small ones, stopped from fermentation.
And now I feel the delight of the taste buds with the combination of the delicious strips of baked dough and the cold liquor, brought in the mug, from the frozen cellar at the end of the yard.
Endowed with all these memories, “clear icons of childhood that cannot be erased”, as Mihail Sadoveanu said, I feel obliged to pass them on to those who may not have had the opportunity to experience them. And as it is never too late, we strive through this project to bring to the dull life of the present, plagued only by the fever of gifts that have become a chore, the charm of the holidays of yesteryear, with the smell of the heat of the stove, cozonac, vanilla and cinnamon, the flickering light of a lighted candle, reverently brought from church on Christmas night and extinguished above the throne of corn.
THE RECIPE FOR PERFECT “COZONACI”
In this tone, I propose a cozonac recipe, simple in terms of ingredients, not opulent, but which guarantees a perfect result, with a flavor reminiscent of long ago, but never set….
Ingredients:
1 kg of flour 000;
50 g fresh yeast or 14 g dry;
350 ml – 400 ml) warm milk;
250 g of sugar;
4 eggs;
150 ml of oil or 100 ml of oil and 100 g of melted butter;
3 sachets of vanilla sugar or vanilla essence;
the grated peel of 2 lemons (be careful, only the peel can be used from some organic lemons, otherwise, you can find grated lemon peel in the envelope);
15 g salt.
Filling:
450 g walnut;
250 g of sugar;
50 g of cocoa;
vanilla essence or rum as preferred;
the egg white left from greasing the muffins or a few spoons of milk or a few spoons of apricot jam;
For the surface:
1 yolk;
2-3 tablespoons of milk.
The milk heats up slightly, and in the dough first put 350 ml and keep 50 ml in reserve, if the dough is too hard, add more, it depends on the flour. The eggs are taken out of the refrigerator a few hours before, as is the flour, of good quality and sifted beforehand.
The first time we make the mayo.
Mix well the yeast together with a teaspoon of sugar and 100 ml of milk (from the weighed one), then sprinkle a little flour (from the weighed one). Leave for 10 minutes. Do the same with dry yeast. The yeast will start to swell, so we check its quality.
Place the 4 whole eggs, sugar and vanilla in the bowl of the mixer or in a large bowl. Turn on the mixer and mix the eggs for 5 minutes, until they become foamy and lighten in color. The operation can also be done by hand. Replace the beater with the mixing paddle and add the mayo, the rest of the milk, the grated lemon peel and 500 g of flour. Mix everything for 5 minutes. The dough is thin, like pancakes. Mix the rest of the flour together with the salt and start kneading, for 10 minutes with a mixer, by hand until it becomes smooth. Cover with a plastic film and let it rest for 10 minutes. Next is the incorporation of the fat. Start kneading the dough again and pour in a little oil, in 3-4 installments. Do not pour the next portion until the previous one is incorporated. This kneading stage lasts about 20 minutes. Finally, the dough becomes elastic and smooth, non-sticky. Grease your palms with a little oil and give it the shape of a ball, preparing for leavening. Place the entire bowl in a large plastic bag that closes tightly. Leave to ferment for 30-40 minutes until it rises nicely. Turn the dough over onto a lightly oiled table and roll it out into a one-cm-thick rectangle. Fold in thirds first, bringing the side edges over the middle third. I obtained a longer rectangle whose ends I brought again over the middle part. Practically a “stretch and fold” and has an essential role in strengthening the structure of the dough and forming the strips. Leave covered for another 10 minutes. The dough is divided into equal portions of 500 g each. After each procedure, the dough needs 10 minutes of rest so that it is covered and left a little longer.
For the filling, grind the walnut and mix it with sugar, cocoa and essences. Some sprinkle sugar, cocoa and dried walnuts on the dough. You can add the beaten egg white, left over from greasing the buns, or mix the composition with 2-3 tablespoons of warm milk, or a few tablespoons of apricot jam, according to your preference. Roll out in the form of a 40 cm x 25 cm rectangle, sprinkle 1/4 of the filling mixture on top, then roll it not very tightly, forming a roll. You get four rolls that intertwine very tightly. Line the forms with baking paper and place the braided buns in them. The filled forms are inserted into the bag and left to rise again for an hour and a half, two hours. It should rise, slightly above the edge of the form. The oven is preheated to 180 degrees, heat up and down and ventilation. The muffins are greased just a few seconds before baking, with the mixture of yolk and milk. They are placed on the lowest setting, 20 minutes at 180 C and then the heat is reduced to 170 C and the muffins are covered with baking paper secured with toothpicks at the ends. 20-25 minutes are left until they are ready. In total, they bake for about 45 minutes. It also depends on the oven. Leave in the trays for 20-25 min, then invert onto a grill and remove the baking paper. The buns are not covered with anything and are turned hot from one side to the other so as not to burn.
They can be eaten after 2-3 hours.
Leave a Reply