Mucenici

Ingredients

Dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 7 ginstant yeast
• 80 gsugar
• ½ tspsalt
• 250 mlwarm milk
• 1egg
• 60 gbutter, melted
• grated zest of 1 lemon

Moldavian syrup

• 1.5 litreswater
• 200 gsugar
• 1cinnamon stick
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 150 gground walnuts

Muntenian finish

• 150 ghoney
• 150 gground walnuts
• 1egg, beaten, to glaze

Also

• a pinch of ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Make one enriched dough and it serves for either. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt, then work in the warm milk, egg and melted butter with the lemon zest.
2. Knead 10 minutes to a soft smooth dough and prove 1 hour 30 minutes until doubled. For the Moldavian version, pull off pieces the size of a hazelnut and roll each into a thin rope about 15 cm long.
3. Roll the ropes thin, no thicker than a pencil. They swell considerably in the syrup and thick ropes turn doughy. Let the shaped pieces rest 20 minutes. Bring the water, sugar, cinnamon stick and lemon zest to a boil.
4. Drop the shapes into the boiling syrup a few at a time and simmer 5 to 7 minutes until they float and are cooked through. Do not crowd the pot. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the ground walnuts. Add the walnuts at the end rather than boiling them, because boiled ground nuts release their oil and turn the syrup cloudy and greasy.
5. Let it cool and serve at room temperature in bowls, with plenty of the walnut syrup and a dusting of cinnamon. It is served as a sweet soup, eaten with a spoon, and it is best after a few hours when the shapes have soaked up the syrup.
6. Brush with beaten egg and bake at 180°C (355°F) for 20 to 25 minutes until golden. Warm the honey slightly and brush it over while the buns are still hot from the oven.
7. Brush the honey on hot, so it soaks in rather than sitting on the surface as a sticky coat. Press ground walnuts over the honeyed tops immediately, while they are still wet.

Technique

• The Moldavian boiled version is sometimes called mucenici moldovenesti or sfintisori.
• Ground walnuts are essential to both and no other nut is traditional.
• The baked ones keep two or three days; the boiled ones are eaten the same day.

Substitutions

• Any enriched sweet bread dough.
• Honey in place of sugar in the syrup.

Variations

• The Moldavian boiled version, as a sweet soup.
• The Muntenian baked version, honeyed and nutted.
• With rum or vanilla in the syrup.

History

Made on 9 March for the forty martyrs of Sebaste; Moldavia boils them, Muntenia bakes them.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mucenici?

Mucenici is a dessert from Romania: figure-eight dough shapes in sweet walnut syrup or baked with honey. Made on 9 March for the forty martyrs of Sebaste; Moldavia boils them, Muntenia bakes them.

How long does Mucenici take to make?

Mucenici takes 45 min plus 2 hr rising of preparation and 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 40 shapes. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Mucenici?

Yes, within limits. Any enriched sweet bread dough. Honey in place of sugar in the syrup.

What is the most important thing to get right in Mucenici?

Drop the shapes into the boiling syrup a few at a time and simmer 5 to 7 minutes until they float and are cooked through. Do not crowd the pot. Take the pot off the heat and stir in the ground walnuts. Add the walnuts at the end rather than boiling them, because boiled ground nuts release their oil and turn the syrup cloudy and greasy.