Nuci umplute

Ingredients

The dough

• 500 gplain flour
• 250 gbutter, softened
• 150 gsugar
• 2eggs
• 1 teaspoonbaking powder
• 1/2 teaspoonsalt
• 1 teaspoonvanilla

The filling

• 1 tincondensed milk
• boiled to caramel
• or 400 g dulce de leche
• 100 gbutter, softened
• 100 gwalnuts, finely chopped

The equipment

• a walnut-shell iron mould
• or an electric walnut maker

To finish

• icing sugar, to dust
• a whole walnut half, optional

Directions

1. Butter and walnuts are beaten into it. The tin can explode if it boils dry. Keep the tin covered by water at all times. Top it up with boiling water as it reduces. Never let the pan boil dry at all. Let the tin cool fully before opening. A hot tin sprays when it is opened.
2. Let it cool right down in the water. Ready-made dulce de leche avoids all of this. Pour it into a pan and heat it gently. Stir it constantly until it thickens and browns. Butter, sugar, flour and egg go in.
3. Use ready-made dulce de leche if you can. It saves several hours as well. Pour condensed milk into a heavy pan. Heat it over a very low steady heat. Stir it constantly throughout. It takes about half of an hour. Keep the heat low and keep stirring. Remove the label from the tin. Put it in a deep pot on its side. Cover it with water by a good depth.
4. Cover it by at least five centimetres. Boiling the tin takes several hours. Bring it to a simmer and keep it there. Give it a good three full hours. Check the water level every twenty minutes. Top it up with more boiling water. Never let the tin become exposed.
5. Set a timer to remind yourself. Turn the heat off and leave the tin in the water. Let it cool completely before removing it. The contents are hot and under pressure. Let the tin cool right down first. Give it a good several hours there. Beat the softened butter until light. Beat the caramel into it gradually. Beat it until smooth and pale. Fold the chopped walnuts through it.
6. Chop all of them fairly finely. Large pieces stop the halves closing. Beat the butter and sugar together. Beat them until pale and light. Add the eggs in one at a time.
7. Add the vanilla along with them. Sift the flour with the baking powder. Add the salt in to them as well. Work it into the butter mixture. Work it as little as you possibly can. Stop as soon as it comes together. Wrap it up and refrigerate it. Give it about thirty full minutes.
8. Heat the mould over a medium flame. It must be genuinely hot before you start. Brush the hollows with a little oil. The first batch sticks otherwise.
9. Grease it again if they start sticking. Roll small balls of the dough. Press one into each of the hollows. Use slightly less than fills the hollow. Too much squeezes out everywhere. Press the whole mould firmly shut. Firm pressure gives a sharp shell shape. Press it properly closed each time. Baking them takes a few minutes.
10. Hold it over the heat for about two minutes. Turn it over and give it two more. A stovetop mould must be turned. Adjust the time for the next batch. Trimming them warm is worth doing.
11. Trim the excess dough from the edges. Trim it while the shells are warm. It snaps off cleanly while warm. Set the shells on a rack to cool. Let all of them cool completely. Warm shells are soft and break. Filling a warm shell melts the cream. Spoon the filling into one half. Press a second half onto that.
12. Fill it generously rather than sparingly. Some should show out at the join. Press the halves together gently. Press a walnut half into the filling first. It is done in some households. Dust them all with icing sugar. Pile them onto a serving plate. Serve tea or coffee alongside. They keep a week in a sealed tin.

Technique

• Boiling an unopened tin of condensed milk is genuinely dangerous: pressure builds inside as it heats, and if the water boils away the tin overheats and can burst, spraying boiling caramel. It has caused real injuries. Keep the tin covered by at least five centimetres of water at all times, top it up with boiling water, never let the pan boil dry or leave it unattended, and let the tin cool completely in the water before opening — a hot tin sprays when opened. Ready-made dulce de leche is the same product and removes the risk entirely, which the atlas recommends plainly; caramelising condensed milk in a pan over a low heat with constant stirring is the other safe route.
• The iron mould is essential and there is no way to make the shape without one; they are sold across Eastern Europe, are cheap and last for decades. Heat it genuinely hot before starting and grease the hollows, since a cool mould sticks badly and the first batch sticks anyway.
• Trim the excess dough from the edges while the shells are still warm, when it snaps off cleanly — cold shells crack when trimmed. Then let them cool completely before filling, since warm shells break and melt the cream.

Substitutions

• Ready-made dulce de leche stands in for boiled condensed milk and is the safer route.
• An electric walnut maker heats from both sides where a stovetop mould must be turned; both give the same shape.

Variations

• The sweet spread through the Soviet period when the moulds were widely manufactured, and has outlasted it, still being made for Moldovan weddings.
• Chop the walnuts for the filling fairly finely, since large pieces stop the two halves closing.
• Some households press a whole walnut half into the filling so there is a real walnut inside the biscuit shell.

History

Baked in a special iron mould, a Soviet-era Moldovan celebration sweet still made for weddings.

Frequently asked questions

What is Nuci umplute?

Nuci umplute is a dessert from Moldova: walnut-shell biscuits sandwiched with sweetened condensed milk cream. Baked in a special iron mould, a Soviet-era Moldovan celebration sweet still made for weddings.

How long does Nuci umplute take to make?

Nuci umplute takes 1 hour of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes about 30 walnuts. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Nuci umplute?

Yes, within limits. Ready-made dulce de leche stands in for boiled condensed milk and is the safer route. An electric walnut maker heats from both sides where a stovetop mould must be turned; both give the same shape.

What is the most important thing to get right in Nuci umplute?

Butter and walnuts are beaten into it. The tin can explode if it boils dry. Keep the tin covered by water at all times. Top it up with boiling water as it reduces. Never let the pan boil dry at all. Let the tin cool fully before opening. A hot tin sprays when it is opened.