It’s been more than 24 hours since I took this bread out of the oven. My kitchen still smells like vanilla, orange and chocolate. The smell reminds me of holidays and family gatherings.
This bread is probably one of the few traditional Romanian breads. It’s usually made at Christmas and Easter and family events, like weddings or baptisms.
I remember our small kitchen, the orange or lemon rind mixed with sugar, candied peel, diced Turkish delight, finely chopped walnuts, rum soaked raisins, poppy seeds mixed with egg whites, cocoa powder mixed with milk to form a spreadable paste, the warmth of the kitchen, the holiday smell, my mom’s smile despite us running all over the place.
I’ve always been fascinated with this Romanian sweet bread. I loved everything about it. The smell, the soft crust, the yellowish color from the egg yolks.
I mentioned this bread in this post and since then I’ve been experimenting the ingredients to reduce the amount of egg yolks used. There have been a lot of test-testing and now, after three months I’m so happy with the way it turned out using 2 eggs instead of 6 egg yolks. It’s rich, sweet, buttery, soft and fluffy with an overwhelming smell.
Usually this bread is filled with nuts, rum soaked raisin, poppy seeds or cinnamon but this time I made it using chocolate chunks.
Sometimes I think I have British roots. I love scones, I drink lots of tea, with milk, please, and I love Cadbury chocolate.
If you’re not a Cadbury chocolate fan you can use any chocolate or a filling of your choice.
The recipe has went through lots of test-testing and I don’t guarantee the results if you feel adventures and do some changes to the dough. You can play with the filling, but not with the dough.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (60 grams) all purpose flour (sifted two times)
- 2 tsp dry yeast
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) lukewarm 1% milk
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
- 2 room temperature eggs lightly beaten
- 4 tbsp. (56 grams) melted but cooled butter
- 3/4 cup (170 grams) room temperature sour-cream (do not use light)
- grated rind from 2-3 oranges
- 1 tsp salt
- 4 1/4 (510 grams) cup all purpose flour (sifted two times)
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) grapeseed or vegetable oil
- For the filling I used 6-8oz Cadbury chocolate (fruit and nuts, roasted almonds and milk chocolate) plus about 1 tbsp of chocolate shavings left from the Chocolate Muffins
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl add 1/2 cup flour, the yeast and the lukewarm milk. With a whisk or a wooden spoon mix well and leave at room temperature until the yeast is proofed.
- With the dough hook on start mixing on the lowest speed, slowly adding the eggs, sour cream, melted butter, orange rind, sugar and salt. Slowly add the rest of the flour, 1/4 cup at a time. When the flour is incorporated the dough will start to clean itself from the sides of the bowl, but it's still going to be light sticky. Here's a picture I took after removing the dough from the bowl. The bowl is not perfectly clean.
- Place the dough on a clean surface and start kneading by hand, pouring few drops of oil at a time on top of it. Knead by hand until all 3 tbsp of oil are incorporated and the dough is soft but not sticky. Kneading by hand should take anywhere from 15 to 25 minutes.
- Place the dough into a clean oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave at room temperature until doubled in volume. (about 1 hour and 30 minutes)
- When risen, take the dough out, place it on your work area and press it lightly with your fingers until you form a sort of rectangle ( 10 by 16-18 inches). Spread the chocolate chunks on top of it, roll and place the loaf into a bread pan (9X5 inch).
- Cover again and leave to rise again. This time it should take about 50 minutes to an hour.
- Heat the oven to 375F.
- If you want you can brush the bread with egg wash just before baking for a darker and shinier crust. I left mine simple.
- Bake the bread for 55 to 60 minutes.
- Leave to cool for 15-20 minutes in the pan before removing it. Let it cool completely before slicing the bread.
Sending love your way,
Roxana
Linking this recipe to Susan’s collection of breads – Yeastspotting , to Lisa’s Bread Baking Day #47 and Bread Baking Day #48 events and to Heather’s Bake your own bread march round-up
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Another great recipe Roxanna! I have to get over my fear and bake with yeast and when I do, I’ll surely give this a try.
Well thank you so very much for taste-testing this bread! It looks amazing. I can’t believe how fluffy that first picture is. Wow. Of course, I’ll be needing to substitute out the chocolate stuff, but I do like the idea of rum-soaked raisins a lot.
Yay! I’m glad you’re entering this one too! DM me and tell me which photo you want to use and I’ll take care of the rest. It looks soo incredibly good, and I LOVE Cadbury – fantastic crumb around that beautiful swirl!
I already emailed you … let me do it again
You made bread with the chocolate!! Cadbury is my favorite chocolate! But then again, my dad’s side of the family is British (he was born there).
It looks beautiful, sounds delicious – bookmarked! Thanks for sharing! Gorgeous pics btw!
Oh my gosh! Amazing- not only is it beautiful with the swirl but so incredibly tempting and sinful! i love it
I have a picture of this bread on my fridge but with raisins..just waiting to be made and now your recipe…This is wow Roxana! Love how you made it..I have to try it asap!:))
Beautiful photos of course..PIN ya!
I think I would love the traditional version filled with nuts, raisins, seeds and cinnamon but don’t get me wrong–I would enjoy this version with chocolate any day! This would be perfect with a pot of tea.
What a gorgeous loaf of bread… I would love to try it sometime! I love chocolate bread… Thanks for your recipe, Roxana!
Roxana, your cozonac looks absolutely stunning! It makes me want to start baking right now
But I will do it for sure soon. I can relate with those memories that you were saying… smelling the fresh cozonac and my mom would share some warm pieces for me and my brother 
My craving for carb is going skyrocket looking at this BEAUTIFUL and delicious swirl bread. It’s not traditional bread in Japan but this is also popular in Asian countries too (thanks for Western influence!). My mom is a bread-holic and buys really great bread from different bakeries. I liked when she buys chocolate swirl bread… very nostalgic.
Oh my goodness… That looks to die for. This is definitely one I am going to have to try and soon! Thanks for sharing!
Oh, how Liv would love it if I made bread with chocolate in it!! Sounds positively divine!
Sadly, right now I can only imagine how good this loaf of bread made your house smell! I love baking with the chocolate chunks, wonderful choice;-)
Your bread looks fantastic!!! I love the story too! My hubby would love the addition of chocolate:-) Hugs, Terra
That’s a fantastic looking chocolate swirl loaf. The swirls are beautifully arranged. Well done!
What a gorgeous loaf! Love all the delightful goodies here
I have been really into baking healthy bread recently, but my does this look good. I would be such a happy (and popular person) having and serving this for breakfast!
I love the orange and chocolate in your bread. The bread looks so light and airy. Wonderful!
Thanks so much for participating in BBD #47, Roxana! The Round – Up is up. You can see it at
http://lisamichele.wordpress.com/2012/03/05/bread-baking-day-47-round-up-bread-with-chocolate/
I guess that smell is quite familiar (and unforgettable) to the smell of a panetone I made a few times with orange, vanilla and chocolate… heavenly! Your bread looks absolutely fantastic!
I love Cadbury chocolates too! I love how you lightened the eggs and the bread is still gorgeous. Lovely chocolate swirls and wish I had a slice now with some coffee:)
How inviting this bread must be to wake up to and smell all those wonderful flavors. Beautiful, tasty looking morning (or noon, dessert) bread. Slathered w/a little butter and a hot cozy drink…good eats! Have a lovely week, Roxana.
the swirls are amazing…so pretty! I love the combo of chocolate and orange!!
Oh, beautiful! I love the flavors here. And I agree, soft bread is amazing, and this looks awesome!
I am so going to make these. It looks so perfect and with chocolates .. absolutely yummmy!
Wow! I made cheese swirl bread recently, and now I am wondering why I didn’t think of doing a chocolate version – totally makes sense! Thanks, Roxana! It looks beautiful!
Oh, beautiful! I love the look of the chocolate-studded swirl. And I’m a pretty big fan of Cadbury chocolate’s as well. Just gorgeous – definitely one I NEED to try. Thank you for sharing it w/ BYOB this month
Hi, I’m stopping over from BYOB, your bread is gorgeous, love the swirl! Perfectly baked!
My first time visiting and I’m already putting this on my list of things to try. It looks wonderful!! Thanks for sharing the recipe *and* for including weight measurements
) Feel free to visit my blog sometime. I’ve subscribed to yours and look forward to your future posts (in the meantime, I’ll go back and check out your older posts).
Hi there, I’ve just found your blog.I have marked your blog to my fav list & will pay a visit more often in the future. You have some interesting recipes abt bread which I would like to try out later. If I do make one, will let you know! Cheers!
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