Croatian Recipes: Orahnjača

by croatiaweek
May 3, 2017
in Food & Wine

Orahnjača, or walnut roll, is a popular sweet baked in Croatia. It is hard to go to a wedding, christening, Christmas or Easter gathering, without finding this on the table.

Check out the recipe below.

Ingredients

Wheat flour – 700 g
Yeast – 40 g
Milk – 600 ml
Eggs – 2
Walnuts – 500 g
Sugar – 310 g
Raisins – 100 g
Lemon – 1/2 grated skin
Butter – 50 g
Salt – pinch

Orahnjača is popular at most festive occasions (photo credit: Klemen Brumec under CC)

Instructions

1. In a bowl break up the yeast and add a teaspoon of sugar, 250 ml of warm milk and mix with a whisk. Leave to rise for around 15 minutes.

2. In a pan put 250 g of sugar, the rest of the milk, lemon skin, raisins (which have been soaked in rum) and leave to boil. Now the ground walnuts and cook on a low heat to get a thick porridge-like consistency with the mixture.

3. Put flour now in a bowl, add beaten egg whites, yolk, sugar, 60 g sugar, a pinch of salt and beat for 15 minutes.

4. Shape the dough into a ball and put back in the bowl with a sprinkling of flour, cover with a tea towel and leave to rise for around 40 minutes.

5. Now cut the dough into two even pieces and roll out each one about 1 centimetre thick to fit in a baking tin.

6. Evenly spread the walnut mixture on both of the rolled out dough, leaving the top two inches free on each. Now roll up gently.

7. Grease a baking tin with butter and place the two rolls inside. Paste with egg yolks and a tablespoon of water and bake for 40 minutes at 180°C.