Kozunak

Ingredients:

For the sponge:

• Flour, 100 gr
• Instant yeast, 1 envelope
• Sugar, 2 tbs
• Salt, a pinch of
• Egg yolk, 1
• Lukewarm milk, 100 ml

For the dough:

• Flour, 900 gr
• Instant yeast, 1 envelope
• Butter, 1/2 cup
• Vegetable oil, 1/2 cup
• Milk, 200 ml
• Sugar, 2 cups
• Egg yolks, 10
• Vanilla extract, 2 tsp
• Lemon extract, 2 tsp
• Raisins, 1 1/2 cup
• Wanults (finely chopped), 1 cup
• Rum, 3/4 cup
• Egg yolk (beaten with 1 tbs milk and 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon), 1 (eggwash)
• Sugar, 100 gr
• Ground cinnamon, 2 tsp

Preparation:

For the sponge:

In a bowl, mix the sponge ingredients, until getting a soft dough. Cover and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours..

For the dough:

Put raisins in rum to cover, and set aside to soak.

Sift the flour. Melt butter and combine with oil.

Heat the milk and sugar on low in a small saucepan until warm.

Add a handful of the flour to the warm yeast mixture.

Little by little mix in with a spoon the rest of the flour, the milk mixture, the eggs and the butter/oil mixture.

When most of it is together, mix in the lemon extract, and the vanilla.

Adding more flour if necessary, knead until it holds together well.

Let the dough rest in a warm place until double in bulk (2 hours).

Punch down and knead the dough.

Drain the raisins. mix with the walnuts.

Punch down and knead again.

Divide the dough into 2 parts.

Roll out each part into a large rectangle, sprinkle with some sugar mixed with cinnamon and some raisins with walnuts.

Each of these, divide into three parts; roll them into long ropes and braid into a single loaf.

Brush the loaves with the eggwash.

Bake the loaves into a previously pre-heated oven at 180°C about 40 minutes or until golden brown.