Cozonac-Romanian Easter bread

Make the filling first- Bring the Milk to a boil and add in the walnuts, cocoa, coffee, sugar, zest and vanilla. Let boil till it turns into a thick paste. Remove from heat and let cool completely.

For the sweet bread dough- In a pan heat the Milk, butter and sugar till warm to the touch. Add the eggs(reserve 1 tsp for egg wash), peel and vanilla extract and whisk. Drop in the yeast and leave for 10 minutes.

Now take the flour in a large bowl, add a pinch of salt and the Milk yeast mixture and knead into a soft, smooth dough(will be sticky).

Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover and keep till doubled in bulk(about 1 hour or so).

Take out dough onto work table and divide into 4. Roll out each part thinly into a large rectangle. Spread the nut mixture evenly onto each part and roll up swiss roll style till you get 4 long stuffed "ropes".

Carefully and neatly lift up and braid the 4 ropes as shown in the picture. You can do this on a piece of parchment, then transfer to a large greased loaf pan. Leave to rise till double.

Preheat oven at 200 deg C. Brush loaf with the reserve egg.Bake loaf for 20-30 minutes or till golden on top and well risen.