Romanian cozonac with ricotta filling (Easter bread)

Babiche Martens

This Easter bread is so delicious it's hard to resist eating it straight from the oven. If you choose, a few splashes of rum will add to the flavour and aroma.

Dough

½ cup	Milk, warm
1 Tbsp	Active yeast
1 tsp	Sugar
½ cup	Milk, warm
1	Egg
420 g	Flour (Main)
¾ cup	Caster sugar
1	Lemon, zest of
2 Tbsp	Rum
1 tsp	Vanilla essence/extract
1 Tbsp	Oil
½ cup	Raisins
25 g	Butter

Filling

25 g	Butter, softened
400 g	Ricotta cheese (Main)
¼ cup	Sugar
3	Eggs, large, yolks
1 Tbsp	Cornflour
1 tsp	Vanilla
1 Tbsp	Rum
¼ cup	Raisins
1	Egg, yolk, for brushing top

Directions

1. Place the warm milk into a small bowl. Mix the yeast and sugar, then sprinkle onto the milk. Stand in a warm place for 10 minutes until frothy and bubbly.
2. In the bowl of a mixer beat the second quantity of milk with the egg and sugar. Add the zest, rum, vanilla, oil and yeast mixture. Slowly add the flour. Continue to knead for 8-10 minutes. If you are doing this by hand, knead for 15 minutes. Knead the raisins and butter in during the last few minutes. Place into a clean greased bowl. Cover and leave in a warm place until it has doubled in size.
3. Punch down dough and knead for a further 5-10 minutes.
4. Grease a 25cm cake tin. Take ¼ of the dough and roll to 1cm thickness and line bottom of tin. With remainder of dough divide into 3. Roll each piece into an 80cm long rope. Plait together, then place in tin around edge on top of base. Cover and return to a warm place for 40 minutes while you make the filling.
5. Preheat oven to 180C.
6. To make filling, combine ricotta, butter, sugar, yolks, flour, vanilla, rum and raisins in a bowl and mix well.
7. Pour filling into centre of the dough, ensuring it doesn't go over the edges. Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Cover with tinfoil after 30 minutes if getting too brown. Cool in tin for 30 minutes before removing and enjoying.