Cozonac

Not that it matters anymore, this is a recipe we usually prepare for Christmas and Easter, very similar to the Italian Panetone. The fillings can be diverse: chocolate, cream, Turkish delight, but walnut is my favorite. I never make it.

Dough: 2 lbs/1 kg flour, 10 oz/300 g sugar, 1 1/2 cups milk, 6 eggs, 2 oz/50 g yeast, 7 oz/200 g butter, 2 tablespoons of oil, vanilla stick, salt, egg for smearing the dough, grease for the pans.

Make a starter from yeast and a teaspoon of sugar. Mix until it has the consistency of sour cream, add 2-3 tablespoons of tepid milk, a little flour and mix well; sprinkle some flour on top, cover and let sit in a warm place to rise. Boil the milk with the vanilla stick (cut in very small pieces) and leave it on the side of the oven, covered, to keep warm.

Mix the yolks with the sugar and salt, then slowly pour the tepid milk, stirring continuously. Place the risen starter in a large bowl and pour, stirring continuously, the yolk-milk mixture and some flour, a little at a time. Then add 3 whipped egg whites. When you finish this step, start kneading. Knead, adding melted butter combined with oil, a little at a time, until the dough starts to easily come off your palms. Cover with a cloth and then something thicker ( a blanket, for example).
Leave in a warm place to triple in volume. If during kneading the dough seems too hard, you may add a little bit of milk. If, on the contrary, the dough seems too soft, you may add a little flour.

Filling: 10 oz/300 g ground walnuts, 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of rum, vanilla

Melt the sugar in the warm milk with vanilla in a pot on the range. When the sugar is melted, add the walnuts and keep stirring. After a few minutes of boiling, and after the filling has thickened, remove from heat and add rum. When the filling is cold, roll a sheet of dough about one finger thick, uniformly spread the walnut filling on top and roll like a jelly roll.
Grease a bread pan, place the roll inside, let rise for a while. Smeare with egg and bake at medium heat. Take out of the pan as soon as it is done, place on a cloth and let cool.

Enjoy it!