Rumanian Easter Bread

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 1 hr Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup butter or 1/4 cup margarine
• 3 cups bread flour
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast or 1 teaspoon bread machine yeast
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 cups ground pecans
• 1 cup golden raisin
• 1 teaspoon finely shredded lemon, rind of
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon milk

Recipe

• 1 add the first 8 ingredients to your bread machine according to manufacturer's directions. select dough cycle.
• 2 when the cycle is complete, remove the dough from the machine. punch down. cover; let rest 10 minutes.
• 3 meanwhile, for the filling, in a medium saucepan combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes.
• 4 remove from the heat; stir in the pecans, raisins, lemon peel and cinnamon. cool to room temperature. divide the dough in half. on a floured surface, roll each half into a 10" x 8" rectangle. spread each with half of the filling. starting from a short side, roll into a spiral; seal edge and ends. place, seam down, on a large, greased baking sheet.
• 5 cover, let rise in a warm place 30 minutes or until nearly double in size. combine the beaten egg and 1 tablespoon milk; brush over the loaves. bake in a 350 degree f oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when tapped. if necessary, cover with foil the last 10 minutes to prevent overbrowning. remove from baking sheets; cool.