Fluffy walnut cake is a must at the Christmas table, being one of the traditional desserts expected by those gathered at the celebration. Although it takes hours to knead and bake, the smell of the steaming nutty puff pastry takes you back to the joyous time of childhood.
I found a first recipe for fluffy cozonac with walnuts on farfuriacolorata.ro. The recipe explains step by step what ingredients are needed for two fluffy walnut scones and how you arrive at a dessert that will surely impress all the guests at the Christmas table.
Traditional recipe for fluffy walnut cake
Ingredients for the dough
Both the dough and filling ingredients are for two scones:
- 1 kg of flour
- 50 grams of fresh yeast
- 250 grams of sugar
- 3-4 sachets of vanilla sugar
- 500 ml of milk
- 100 ml of oil
- 5 egg yolks
- salt
- lemon essence + grated lemon peel
Ingredients for the filling
- 400 grams of walnut
- 5 egg whites
- 5 spoons of sugar
- 3 spoons of cocoa
- shit, raisins optional
How to prepare the fluffy walnut cake
Sift the flour three times into a large, roomy bowl, then make a well in the middle, but without reaching the bottom of the bowl. Heat the milk together with the sugar and vanilla sugar, just enough to melt the sugar.
Take a few spoonfuls of the warm milk and dissolve the yeast in it, then pour the mixture into the well in the flour. Sprinkle a little flour from the bowl on top, just enough to cover, and let it rest for about 10 minutes. After this time, the yeast should be activated, cracking the flour on top, like a small volcano. If you don't notice this, wait a little longer.
Separately, rub the yolks with salt, add the lemon peel, then pour the mixture over the flour. Add the rest of the milk and start mixing with your hands until you get a smooth dough. Gradually pour the oil in a thin stream, greasing your hands as well, and continue kneading. Add more oil from time to time. If necessary, you can use even more than 100 ml.
If you have the patience, knead for about 30 minutes. Then cover the bowl and leave the dough in the heat to rise. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Beat the egg whites with the sugar, then add the walnuts and cocoa, mixing well.
When the dough has doubled or tripled in size, after about an hour and a half or even two, divide it into two balls, and cut each ball into two equal parts. Spread each piece on an oiled counter, add the filling and roll. Fold the rolls in two, place them in trays lined with baking paper and let them rise a little longer. Before baking, brush the muffins with egg yolk and sprinkle sugar on top.
Bake on medium to high heat for the first 15 minutes, then reduce the heat. The exact time depends on the oven, but if you notice that they are browning too much, after 30-40 minutes you can cover the muffins with baking paper. That way they will stay beautiful and won't burn. The total baking time is about one hour.
VIDEO Fluffy cake with walnut – Sanda Marin's recipe
The ingredients to have a fluffy walnut cake on the table, according to the recipe written by Sanda Marin, are:
- 600 g flour,
- 1 cup milk,
- 2 whole eggs,
- 2 egg yolks,
- 1/2 teaspoon salt,
- 140 g fresh butter,
- 2 spoons of sugar, 20 g of yeast,
- vanilla.
Filling ingredients:
- 500 g ground walnuts,
- 350 g powdered sugar,
- a pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup milk.
How to make puff pastry dough with walnuts
Soften the yeast with a teaspoon of sugar and a little warm milk. Rub the foam butter with two spoons of sugar. Sift the flour into a wide bowl, make a space in the middle and pour in the yeast, a cup of milk, two whole eggs and two yolks rubbed with 1/2 teaspoon of salt; it is kneaded, adding the foamed butter, until the dough forms bubbles and detaches from the hand. The crust must be a bit harder than the usual (simple) cozonac. Let it grow.
The filling
Mix the ground walnuts with powdered sugar and a pinch of salt. It is scalded with 1/2 cup of boiling milk and rubbed until the paste is properly consistent (if necessary, add more milk, but carefully, because the paste becomes slightly too soft).
Divide the raised dough in two, spread the first sheet on the table sprinkled with flour, spread half of the walnut on top, in as even a layer as possible, roll it and put it in the form greased with butter. The same thing is repeated with the second piece of dough. Brush with egg and immediately put in the oven, without letting the shaped dough rise, because gaps are made between the nut and the dough. It is baked at the right temperature.
Artificial intelligence generated fluffy walnut cake recipe
We asked ChatGPT to write us a traditional recipe for fluffy walnut scones, and here's what it came out:
Ingredients for the dough
- 1 kg white flour type 000
- 50 g fresh yeast (or 14 g dry yeast)
- 400 ml of milk
- 200 g of sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 150 ml of oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- grated peel from 1 lemon
- 1 packet of vanilla sugar or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Ingredients for the filling
- 4 egg whites
- 200 g of sugar
- 300 g ground walnut
- 2 spoons of cocoa
- 1 teaspoon rum essence (optional)
Method of preparation
Sift the flour two to three times into a large bowl. Make an indentation in the middle without reaching the bottom of the bowl. Heat the milk together with the sugar and vanilla sugar, just enough to dissolve the sugar (do not boil). Take a few spoons of warm milk and dissolve the yeast in it. Pour the yeast into the well in the flour, sprinkle a little flour on top and leave for 10-15 minutes, until the yeast activates and “blooms”.
Rub the yolks with salt until they lighten in color. Add the lemon zest and pour the mixture over the flour. Add the rest of the milk. Mix everything with your hands, then start adding the oil gradually, in a thin stream, kneading continuously. The dough will be soft and slightly sticky. Do not add extra flour. Knead for 15–30 minutes, until the dough becomes elastic and pulls away from your hands.
Cover the bowl with a clean towel and leave the dough in a warm place for 1½–2 hours, until it doubles or even triples in size. Beat the egg whites stiffly with the sugar. Add the ground walnuts, cocoa and rum essence, mixing gently.
Divide the leavened dough into two equal parts. Each part is divided in turn into two. Spread each piece on the oiled counter, add plenty of filling and roll. Braid two rolls each and place them in trays lined with baking paper. Leave the scones in the pans, covered, for another 30–40 minutes, until nicely risen.
Mix the yolk with the milk and brush the muffins. Sprinkle some sugar on top. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for the first 15 minutes, then reduce to 160–170°C and continue baking for another 40–45 minutes.
Remove the scones from the oven and let them cool on a wire rack, cover lightly with a towel.
