To begin with, scald the flour with the milk brought to a boil.
Stir with a spoon, then let it cool.
Add the fresh yeast, here also add a tablespoon of sugar and pour in a little warm milk, then stir.
Let the sourdough starter double in volume.
For the cozonac dough: transfer the starter into the bowl of a mixer, add the flour, egg yolks, sugar, lemon essence, vanilla essence, sour cream, and salt.
Start kneading, gradually pouring in the milk little by little.
When all the ingredients are combined, add the softened butter and oil.
Knead the dough for approximately 15-20 minutes, or until it becomes soft and elastic.
Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 60-90 minutes, or until it doubles in volume.
🧡 While the dough is rising, we'll take care of the cream:
Whisk the egg whites with the sugar until you get a fluffy and glossy foam.
Add half of the ground almonds and the cocoa powder, mix, then add the remaining almonds and fold them into the rest of the ingredients.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly oiled work surface and divide it into 4 equal pieces.
To make a sweet bread, we need two pieces of dough.
Roll out a piece of dough on the oiled surface into a rectangular shape.
Over the dough, add cocoa and nut cream and spread evenly.
Sprinkle with raisins and roll up the dough.
Proceed in the same way with the other pieces of dough.
Braid two rolls each and transfer them into paper molds.
Let the sweet breads rise for about 30-40 minutes.
If desired before baking, brush the surface with egg yolk and bake for one hour at 160°C.
Let it cool for about 30 minutes, and then you can enjoy.
💛 Bon appétit!
