Mucenici A Traditional Romanian Honey And Walnuts Pastry Recipes

MUCENICI- A TRADITIONAL ROMANIAN HONEY AND WALNUTS PASTRY

Steps:

• Make the dough:
• In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in half of the amount of milk we need for the recipe. Add a teaspoon of sugar to the mixture. The milk has to be lukewarm, not hot.
• Set aside and let it rise for 15 minutes.
• In a KitchenAid mixer bowl, place the sifted flour.
• Start mixing the flour at low speed, using a spiral dough hook attachment. One by one, add the yeast mixture, eggs, melted butter, the rest of sugar, lemon and orange zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.
• Slowly add the lukewarm milk and keep kneading until you form a dough.
• Let the machine knead the dough for about 7 to 10 minutes until you obtain a smooth, elastic dough that doesn't stick to the bowl or your hands.
• Place the dough in an oiled bowl and let it rise for an hour or until it doubles in volume.
• Make the filling:
• While the dough is rising, make the filling. In a medium bowl, place the ground walnuts and powder sugar. Stir to combine.
• Add the milk slowly to form a thick mixture.
• When the dough has risen, place it on a working table and flatten it slightly.
• Cut the dough into 15-20 equal pieces. You can cut it into 8-10 pieces for bigger size pastries.
• Shape every piece into a ball and, if necessary, weigh them to make sure they are the same size.
• Place them on the table and cover them with plastic wrap so they don't dry out.
• Take one ball, shape it into a roll, flatten it with your hands and stretch it with a roller pin. It should be about 10 inches long and 2-3 inches wide.
• Add the walnut paste at the edge of the dough on an even layer, and roll it gently to form a roll.
• Bring the ends of the roll together and form a ring. Twist the ring in the middle to create an eight (8).
• Place the pastry on a parchment paper-lined baking tray.
• Continue to shape the rest of the dough. Let the pastries rise again on the tray for about 20-30 minutes.
• After the dough has risen, brush them with the beaten egg.
• Bake them 20 minutes at 350F.
• Remove them from the oven and place them on a cooling rack.
• Prepare the syrup:
• Meanwhile, prepare the syrup by placing the water in a saucepan with the sugar, orange, lemon zest, and vanilla pod. Bring to a boil and simmer the syrup for about 5 minutes.
• Remove the syrup from the stove, strain it and place it into a clean bowl.
• Soak each pastry in the hot syrup for 10 seconds on each side, remove and place them back on the cooling rack.
• Glazing the pastry:
• Place the honey in the microwave for 10 seconds to make it more fluid.
• Brush each pastry on the surface with honey and dip them in the ground walnuts.
• Serve.