Mucenici- A Traditional Romanian Honey and Walnut Pastry

Mucenici- A Traditional Romanian Honey and Walnut Pastry

     Romania is known as a country with many traditions and customs - the beginning of Spring is no exception. March starts with three important traditions in Romania: Martisor, Babele, and 40 de Mucenici (40 martyrs).

     Martisorul is a small symbolic item men offer to women on March 1 as a sign of love and respect. In some regions, women give martisoare to men.

    Martisoare are usually small items, such as handmade flowers, jewelry, and figurines tied with a red and white entwined cord. The red is said to represent the spring and the heat while the white represents the winter and the cold. Anything can become a martisor as long as you tie the red and white string to it.

     Every year on March 9, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Forty Martyrs (commonly known as Mucenici): these were Roman soldiers in the Legio XII Fulminata who lived in the time of Emperor Licinius (308-324), a persecutor of Christians. Christians were tortured and executed in Sebaste (present-day Sivas, Turkey) because they refused to apostatize their Christian belief.

     Unfortunately for me, I just missed this celebration by a week!  I would have loved to participate (as a spectator) in these events but I guess I'll be ready for next year.  Mucenici coincides with the start of the agricultural year. People perform several rituals on this day, such as beating the ground with wooden mallets to drive out cold and unleash the warmth.

     For this day of tradition, Romanian women (especially in the Moldova region) bake a special dessert called Mucenici (pronounced Moochaneech) or sfintisori – little saints. The desserts are made in the shape of figure 8, which some say denotes a stylized human form of the martyrs themselves. There are several variations of this dessert depending on the geographic region.

     The pastries are basically made from a yeast dough filled (or not) with walnuts, baked in the shape of an eight, soaked in a delicious syrup, and glazed with honey and more walnuts.

     I am told the pastries are fluffy, delicious, beautiful, and full of flavor and will try to bake them before I leave in less than two weeks.

How To Make Mucenici - A Traditional Romanian Honey and Walnut Pastry

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE DOUGH:

4 cups all purpose flour (sifted)

2 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

1/2 stick unsalted butter (melted but cool)

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

Lemon zest

Orange zest

3 Tablespoons dry yeast

Pinch of salt

WALNUT FILLING:

2 1/2 cups ground walnuts

7 Tablespoons powder sugar

6 Tablespoons whole milk

SYRUP:

1 1/2 cups water

3/4 cup sugar

Lemon zest

Orange zest

Vanilla bean pod

DECORATION:

1/2cup honey

3/4 cup walnuts

DOUGH:

In a little bowl, dissolve the yeast in half of the milk. Add a teaspoon of sugar to the mixture. The milk has to be lukewarm, not hot.

Set aside and let it rise for 15 minutes.

In a mixer bowl, add the sifted flour.

Start mixing the flour on low speed, using a spiral dough hook attachment. One-by-one, add the yeast, eggs, melted butter, sugar, lemon and orange zest, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.

While the dough is kneaded, slowly add the lukewarm milk until the dough forms.

Let the machine continue to knead the dough for about 7 to 10 minutes until it becomes a smooth, elastic dough that doesn't stick to the bowl or your hands.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover the bowl with several clean dish towels, and let it rise for about an hour or until it doubles in volume.

When the dough has risen, place the dough on the work surface and flatten it slightly.

Cut the dough in 15-20 equal pieces. You can cut it in 8-10 pieces, for bigger size pastries.

Shape every piece into a ball and if necessary weigh them to make sure they are the same size.

Place them on the table and cover them with plastic wrap.

Take one ball, shape it into a roll, flatten it with your hands and stretch it with a rolling pin. It should be about 10 inches long and about 2-3 inches wide.

HOW TO PREPARE THE WALNUT FILLING:

Add powder sugar and milk to the ground walnuts. Mix well. You should obtain a thick paste. Set aside.

HOW TO FILL THE PASTRY:

When the dough doubled in volume, place it on the work surface and flatten it. Split it in equal size pieces, based on how big you want the pastries to be in size.

Traditionally, they should be about the size of your palm when done, so split the dough in about 15-20 small pieces.

Form balls and place them on the table. Cover them with plastic wrap so they don’t form a dry crust while you work the pastries.

Take a piece of dough and form a roll about 7-8 inches long. Flatten the roll with your hands and stretch it with a rolling pin to make it about 10 inches long and 2-3 inches wide.

Place a dollop of walnut paste on the entire dough length. Roll the dough inside to cover the walnut filling and form back the roll.

Grab the ends of the roll and bring them together to form a ring. Twist the ring in the middle to form an eight.

Shape it nicely to look like the number 8. Place the dough on a parchment paper-lined baking tray.

Continue the same way until you finish the dough. Let the pastries rise again for about 20-30 minutes.

Brush them with beaten egg and bake them at 350 degrees F for about 20 minutes.

HOW TO GLAZE THE PASTRY WITH SYRUP:

When done, they should be golden brown on top. Place the pastries on a cooling rack.  While they cool off, prepare the syrup.

Mix sugar, water, lemon and orange peel, and vanilla bean pod in a saucepan.  Bring the mixture to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes. When ready, strain and place the syrup in a big bowl.

Soak each pastry both sides for about 10 seconds each in the hot syrup and place them back on the cooling rack.

FINAL GLAZE:

To glaze the pastries, place the honey in the microwave for 10 seconds, just long enough to make it more fluid. Brush each pastry with the honey and dip the pastry top in the ground walnuts.

Serve. The Mucenici pastries go really well with coffee, tea, as breakfast or snack.