Romanian Nut Roll (Kifla)

Submitted by jorie.west

"Delicious yeast bread with sweet walnut filling. From Bless the Food and Drink of Your Servants, St. Michael Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church 80th Anniversary Cookbook. Aurora, IL, 1988."

 

• Ready In: 3hrs 40mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Yields: 4 loaves
• Serves: 16

ingredients

• Dough

• 4 1⁄2 teaspoons active dry yeast (2 packets)
• 1⁄2 cup lukewarm milk
• 1⁄2 cup sugar, plus
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 6 cups flour
• 1 cup butter
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 pint sour cream

• Filling

• 1 lb walnuts, ground
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1⁄4 cup brown sugar
• 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon

directions

1. Mix ingredients for filling, set aside.
2. In another bowl, mix yeast, milk, 1 teaspoon sugar, and vanilla together and set aside for about 10 minutes.
3. In a third bowl, mix flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Cut in butter until mixture resembles course crumbs.
4. Add eggs, salt and sour cream, then add yeast mixture, mix and knead well until dough is shiny (about 15 minutes).
5. Divide into 4 balls. Roll out each ball to about 9" x 13" and spoon 1/4 of the nut filling over each.
6. Starting at the narrow end, roll dough into a loaf. Pinch the ends and fold them under. With the seam side down, let loaves rise in greased pan for 2 hours.
7. Brush with beaten egg and bake at 350 for 35 to 40 minutes.

Reviews

[ktmindar_3]

Delicious! I'm so glad I found this recipe. I had been searching the Internet for a few years looking for a Romanian kifla recipe. I had this every Christmas for breakfast growing up, and although I have my mom's handwritten recipe (that she got from my grandmother) it was incomplete (it didn't include how to make the filling and appeared to have an error since it calls for 4x as much milk which doesn't result in a workable dough!). My great grandfather used to attend the St. Michael Romanian Byzantine Catholic Church in Aurora, IL when he was alive too! I would love to have a copy of the cookbook this is from if anyone knows where I can find one.