Cozonac cu Nuca | Romania | Vegan

Hello my lovelies! When I came across this recipe I instantly knew that I wanted to make this, it just looked so lovely and the combination of the walnuts and raisins sounded lovely. We were also going to visit Ana and her family soon and I just had to bring this with me so we all could enjoy a little bit of Romania together and I am happy to share that they loved it! It was all gone over the course of two days.

What you need for dough:

12 dl ( 4.8 cups ) flour

3 3/4 dl ( 1 1/2 cups ) sugar

2 dl ( 0,8 cups ) aquafaba

2 1/2 dl ( 1 cups ) vegan milk

225g room temperature butter

Zest of one lemon

2 tsp vanilla powder

1 1/4 dl ( 0,5 cups ) raisins

1/2 dl ( 0,2 cups ) rum

2 tbsp active dry yeast

1/2 dl ( 0,2 cups ) finger warm water

2-3 tbsp vegetable oil for dough rising

What you need for filling:

5 dl ( 2 cup ) walnuts

5 tbsp butter

5 tbsp sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

Raisins from the rum mixture

What you need for decorating:

Walnuts about 8-10 for each loaf

3 tbsp sugar

Makes 2 loaves.

Begin with adding the raisins into a bowl and pour rum over them, let them soak while we carry on with the rest

Using a separate bowl add the yeast and finger warm water, allow it to sit for 10 minutes. It should bubble up.

In a pot add butter, milk, lemon zest and sugar. Bring the heat to medium and cook until sugar and butter has melted and set aside.

Drain the raisins into your kitchen machine bowl (set the raisins aside for the filling), add the flour, aquafaba, vanilla, milk mixture and yeast. Knead with the dough attachment for about 5-10 minutes.

Now lift out the dough and pour in the vegetables oil and pop the dough back in, gentle rub the oil to cover the dough and place a kitchen towel to cover it. Allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours. It should double in size.

We are now moving onto the filling, in a food processor add walnuts, raisins, sugar, butter and cocoa powder and pulse until it looks finely grounded and set aside.

Divide the dough into 3 pieces and roll them out into rectangles. Spread the filling onto each piece so they all have an equal amount.

Roll the rectangles using the long side on each, we are doing this so we can braid them together. Once you have braided the dough you can now slice the braid into 2 equal loaves and pop them into 2 loaf pans coated with butter or oil. Let the loaves rest for 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 175℃ ( 350℉ ) bake the loaves in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes.

Let the loaves cool completely before removing them. Now they're ready to enjoy!