Chec Cu Nucă (Romanian Walnut Panettone)
This traditional Romanian sweet bread studded with rum-laced candied walnuts, makes a delicious dessert, breakfast bread, or teatime snack. This recipe first appeared in our March 2012 issue with Alexander Lobrano's article Eternal Terrain.
Enlarge Image
Credit: Landon Nordeman
Ingredients
2 cups milk¾ cup plus ½ tsp. sugar
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
2 ¼-oz. packages active dry yeast
½ vanilla bean, seeds scraped and reserved
1 egg
4 cups flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped
1 tbsp. rum
1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
Instructions
1. Make the dough: Combine 1 cup milk, heated to 115°, with ½ tsp. sugar, nutmeg, yeast, and vanilla seeds in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the hook attachment; let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes. Whisk in ¼ cup sugar and egg until smooth; add flour and salt, and mix until dough forms. Increase speed to medium-high, and knead for 4 minutes. While mixer is running, slowly add butter to dough, 1 tbsp. at a time, and mix until smooth; continue kneading for 4 minutes more. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let dough sit until doubled in size, about 1 hour.2. Meanwhile, bring remaining milk, sugar, walnuts, and rum to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring often, until liquid is reduced and mixture is brown and has thickened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in juice; let walnut mixture cool completely. Punch down dough, and add walnut mixture to dough; return to mixer fitted with the hook attachment, and mix on low speed until walnut mixture is evenly incorporated into the dough. Transfer dough to a greased 8″ x 5 1/2″ x 2″ loaf pan and cover loosely with plastic wrap; let sit until slightly risen, about 45 minutes.
3. Heat oven to 350°. Uncover loaf, and bake until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer reads 190°, about 1 hour, 15 minutes. Let cool completely.
This kind of bread dries out very easily, so wrap it in aluminum foil when it's still warm and store it wrapped.
@bossygirl: the amount of yeast at first seems a lot, but you want your cake to be very airy and the taste should be slightly yeasty.
Don't be confused about the name.. all over Europe there are hundreds of versions of this kind of cake with different names. pannetone, potize, chec cu nuca..with walnuts, candied fruits, poppyseed filling, farmers cheese and plum jam.. the concept is all the same, really! Every country claims to have the original recipe, but they all have in common that it is eaten for special holidays like Easter.
so yes, there is nothing wrong with calling it walnut pannetone..
Saveur:
I gave you the benefit of the doubt. I believed you made a typo or could offer explanation and perhaps cared enough to respond.
This recipe has since been scrutinized by a qualified baker who knows baker's percentages and the amount of yeast is indeed high. If it speaks volumes that you have remained silent and refused to respond, then allowing other readers to attempt to do your job for you breaks the sound barrier. Still, I wait for your explanation with the belief that your readers who aren't just looking for cool recipes and appreciate accurate authenticity matter just as much.
I simply had a (valid) question which wasn't being answered. For weeks. If you'll read the post written before yours, the poster verifies and supports what I've said. Hopefully you will find there's something to be learned by that.
Insulting and degrading people hardly makes you ingratiating. Hopefully you'll enjoy learning much more about the differences in these offerings and possibly broaden your baking knowledge and repertoire rather than your than your mouth.
@ANCAFROMTHEJAR,
Thank you. No one has set the record straight better!