Mucenici- A Traditional Romanian Honey And Walnuts Pastry

4.86 from 7 votes

Mucenici- A Traditional Romanian Honey And Walnuts Pastry

Mucenici- a traditional Romanian honey and walnuts pastry is a recipe made only once a year on March 9th as a celebration of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.

Prep Time2

Cook Time20

Inactive Time1 20

Total Time3 40

Course: Sweet Breads, Muffins and Scones

Cuisine: Romanian

Servings: servings

Calories: 321kcal

Author: Gabriela

Equipment

Ingredients

For the dough:

1 cup whole milk
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
4 cups of all purpose flour sifted
2 large eggs
½ stick unsalted butter melted but cool
4 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest from 1 lemon
Zest from 1 orange
pinch of salt

Walnut Filling:

2 ½ cups ground walnuts
7 tablespoons powdered sugar
6 tablespoons whole milk

Syrup:

1 ½ cup water
¾ cups sugar
Zest from 1 lemon
Zest from 1 orange
1 vanilla pod

Decoration:

½ cup honey
¾ cup walnuts

To brush the dough before baking:

1 beaten egg

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Make the dough:

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in half the milk needed for the recipe. Add a teaspoon of sugar to the mixture. The milk must be lukewarm, not hot.
Set aside and let it rise for 15 minutes.
In a KitchenAid mixer bowl, place the sifted flour.
Mix the flour at low speed, using a spiral dough hook attachment. Add the yeast mixture, eggs, melted butter, the rest of the sugar, lemon and orange zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt one by one.
Slowly add the lukewarm milk and keep kneading until you form a dough.
Let the machine knead the dough for 7 to 10 minutes until it is smooth and elastic and 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. Place the ground walnuts and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and 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. For bigger pastries, you can cut it into 8-10 pieces.
Shape every piece into a ball and, if necessary, weigh it to ensure it is 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 shaping the rest of the dough. Let the pastries rise again on the tray for 20-30 minutes.
After the dough has risen, brush them with the beaten egg.
Bake them for 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.

Nutrition