Sweet Bread / Cozonac / Kalács

Directions

1. To prepare the dough, first separate the eggs. Reserving both the whites and yolks, try not to break the yolks.

2. In a small sauce pan, warm the milk over a medium flame.

3. Once milk is warm, remove 3 Tbs (continue heating the rest).

4. Place 3 Tbs milk in a bowl with yeast, 1 tsp sugar and a little flour. Mix until this reaches the consistency of thick cream. Cover and set aside for 5 minutes.

5. Once milk comes to a boil, remove it from the heat. Add vanilla and mix well. Set aside.

6. In a large bowl, beat together the sugar, yolks, and salt.

7. Slowly add the warm milk mixture to the sugar mixture and blend well. They add the yeast mixture. Beat the egg whites until frothy and add half of them as well. Beat well to blend.

8. Gradually add flour until a dough forms (use all the flour).

9. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and knead.

10. While you knead, melt butter in a small pot. Once melted, add oil and stir.

11. Slowly work the butter and oil mixture into the dough until bubbles form and the dough comes easily off the hands (about ½ hour).

12. Transfer the dough to a greased bowl and cover it with a clean cloth. Leave in a warm place to rise until doubled or tripled in bulk (1-2 hours).

13. Once dough has finished rising, punch it down and form it into the shape of a loaf pan (if adding a filling, add it now – see below). Grease the pan, put the dough in, and allow it to rise in the pan for at least ½ an hour.

14. Pre-heat oven to medium-high. Before baking, brush the top of the loaf with some of the remaining egg whites (re-beat to frothy before brushing).

15. Bake for 30-45 minutes (until cooked through and browned on top). When done, remove from pan and cool on a wire rack.

 

Notes: This traditional Romanian sweet bread is usually made on holidays or at least on the weekend – as it’s a bit time consuming. If you can master it though, you’ll have people eating out of your hand – good Cozonac/Kalács is hard to beat!

 

Variations: The two most common fillings for this bread are walnut and chocolate. See filling recipes below. Don’t feel bound by tradition though, if you go through all the work of making the dough, you have earned the right to be creative (try cinnamon, spices, raisins, zest, apricot, jam etc.).

 

Ingredients: Walnut Filling                                            

U.S.	Ingredients	European
1 c	Walnuts (ground)	120 g
⅓ c	Sugar	65 g
¼ c	Milk	60 ml
½ tsp	Vanilla	½ tsp
2 tsp	Rum flavoring (optional)	2 tsp

 

Instructions: Walnut Filling

1. Begin by grinding, grating or very finely chopping the walnuts.

2. In a small pan, heat sugar, milk and vanilla over a medium flame until sugar has dissolved.

3. Add ground nuts to the pan, stirring constantly to keep them from sticking.

4. Bring the mixture to its boiling point for one minute, still stirring constantly.

5. Mixture should have the consistency of paste. Remove pan from heat and add rum flavoring (if using). Cool.

6. Once mixture has cooled, roll out the dough into a rectangle, one side of which is as long as your loaf pan.

7. Spread the dough with the nut mixture, then roll it back up and shape it to fit the loaf pan. Bake as directed above.

 

Ingredients: Chocolate Filling                      

U.S.	Ingredients	European
3	Eggs	3
1-2 Tbs	Milk	1-2 Tbs
1 Tbs	Cocoa (un-sweetened)	1 Tbs
⅓ c	Powdered sugar	35 g
¼ tsp	Vanilla	¼ tsp

 

Instructions: Chocolate Filling

1. Begin by separating and setting aside the eggs.

2. In a small pot, heat the milk over a medium flame. Once the milk is nearly hot, add the cocoa powder and stir until dissolved.

3. Remove the milk from the heat and allow the milk to cool slightly.

4. In a bowl, beat egg yolks then stir in powdered sugar, vanilla and milk mixture.

5. Beat the egg whites until frothy, and fold them into the cocoa mixture.

6. Roll out the dough into a rectangle, one side of which is as long as your loaf pan.

7. Spread the dough with the chocolate mixture, then roll it back up and shape it to fit the loaf pan. Bake as directed above.