Cozonac — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

A tall, richly layered sweet bread rolled with a walnut and cocoa filling, with an incredibly soft and fluffy crumb that stays fresh for days.

Ingredients

600g bread flour
200ml warm milk
150g sugar
100g butter, melted
4 eggs
15g instant yeast
1 tsp vanilla extract
Zest of 1 orange
Pinch of salt
For filling: 300g ground walnuts
100g sugar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
100ml warm milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp rum extract

Instructions

1 Activate yeast in warm milk with a tablespoon of sugar. Let stand ten minutes until foamy.
2 Combine flour, sugar, and salt. Add yeast mixture, eggs, melted butter, vanilla, and orange zest. Knead for twenty minutes.
3 The dough must pass the windowpane test, stretching thin without tearing. This extended kneading is essential for the fluffy texture.
4 Let dough rise for two hours in a warm place until tripled in size. Punch down gently.
5 Mix walnuts, sugar, cocoa, milk, vanilla, and rum extract for filling. Roll dough into a rectangle, spread filling, and roll tightly.
6 Place in a buttered loaf pan, let rise one hour. Brush with egg wash and bake at 170C for forty-five minutes until deeply golden.

Did You Know?

A well-made cozonac should have a swirl pattern visible in every slice, and Moldovan grandmothers judge each other's baking skill by the evenness of these spirals.