Romanian Sweet Bread or Cozonac
Romanian Sweet Bread or Cozonac, our traditional dessert for Easter, Christmas or any other important celebration. It can be as simple or as rich in fillings as one likes, and it's just heavenly delicious. Similar in taste and texture to the Italian Pannetone or the French Brioche Bread, this sweet bread might need double proving, but the effort is well worth it. Common fillings are cocoa powder, walnuts, raisins and Turkish delight.
Servings: 1 sweet bread
Calories: 2944kcal
Ingredients
- 400 g strong white bread flour
- 3 egg yolks
- 85 g sugar
- 250 ml full-fat milk
- 75 g butter, soften
- 2 teaspoon dry fast-action yeast
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- a pinch of salt
For the filling
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoon finely chopped walnuts
- 1 egg to brush the sweet bread
- a handful of raisins
- a handful of Turkish delight
Instructions
- To make the dough, warm up the milk, add a tablespoon of flour, one tablespoon of sugar and the yeast to it.
- Give it a stir, then set aside for 10-15 minutes until frothy and well risen.
- Beat the soft butter with the sugar, and add the egg yolks.
- Sift the flour, add the butter mixture, the yeast mixture, lemon zest and extract and a pinch of salt.
- Knead well into a dough for at least 5-10 minutes, we need the dough to be elastic and easy to shape into a ball.Add more flour if necessary.
- Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel, then leave to proof for 2 hours or until it doubles its size.
- To make the filling, beat the egg white with sugar until it holds stiff peaks. There is no need to use all the egg white, about half of it should do.
- Add the cocoa powder, vanilla extract. walnuts, raising and Turkish delight cut into small pieces.
- Roll the dough the spread the filling, leaving the edges clear, so the dough can be rolled back into a sausage.
- Grease a bread tin well, add the dough, and leave to rise again, for at least another hour or so.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- Beat the whole egg, and brush some all over the top of the dough.
- Bake on the middle rack for 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven, leave to cool, then run a sharp knife around the edges, it should come out easily.
Notes
- If you'd like to see the ingredients listed in cups and ounces, please check the US Customary Link.
- Also, the amount of ingredients changes depending on the servings, so click on the number listed to change it to the number you prefer.
Nutrition
Calories: 2944kcal | Carbohydrates: 433g | Protein: 75g | Fat: 103g | Saturated Fat: 51g | Cholesterol: 772mg | Sodium: 742mg | Potassium: 1259mg | Fiber: 20g | Sugar: 112g | Vitamin A: 3058IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 450mg | Iron: 22mg