Easter is a huge holiday in Moldova, which, if you're new here, is where I am from and where I lived until 4 years ago when my (american) husband and I moved to the US. Anyway, back to Easter in Moldova...I could say that it is a holiday bigger than Christmas. I remember dearly all the wonderful times spent with family on Easter. No bunnies, no Easter Egg Hunts, but certainly plenty of other traditions, many of which are food related.
Today I am sharing a must have for a Moldovan Easter and a new favorite of
my American side of the family.
It is a mix between the American pound cake and the Italian Panettone, and we call it 'Cozonac'. It is super yummy, but super difficult to make. I know it took my mom days to prepare for this. I've never actually attempted to make one myself using my grandma's recipe, but here's one I adapted from the Italian Panetonne recipe over at the Food Network.
I didn't have the right form for this, so I just used regular loaf pans.
Difficulty: medium
Prep time: 30 min
Inactive time: 2 hours
Cooking time: 35 min
Yield: 2 loaves
ingredients
Dried Fruits
1/2 cup diced candied orange peel
3/4 cup dried cherries
3/4 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup diced dried apricots
Dough ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp salt
Mixing and finishing ingredients
1 cup of whole milk
1 stick of butter
¼ cup honey
2 tbs grated lemon zest
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
step by step
1. Place the dried fruits and dough ingredients into a bowl.
2. Heat 1 cup whole milk, 1 stick butter, 1/4 cup honey and
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest in a saucepan, until all the ingredients are
homogenized and are about 120 degrees. Pour and stir into the dry mix in the
bowl.
3. Lightly beat 2 eggs and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, add
to the dough and mix.
4. Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
5. Butter two 5-by-9-inch loaf pans and line with parchment
paper.
6. Separate the dough into two equal parts and place them in your pans; cover and let rise 1 hour.
8. Whisk 1 egg with a little bit of milk, and brush your loves conservatively (as in don't dump the whole egg mixture on top; we don't want burnt omelet on top).
7. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the
middle comes out clean, about 55 minutes.
Cool before slicing.
If you attempt this recipe and it doesn't turn out well, please don't hate me. I am not a baker, and I hate following exact measurements. I didn't use exact measurements for any of the dried fruit, sugar or honey. I also, added extra flour when the dough was too thin, or water when it was too thick. I just worked it until it wasn't sticking to my fingers.
What Easter Traditions does your family have that you love?
Hugs,
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