Traditional Romanian Mucenici

Mucenici are a traditional Romanian dish made only once a year and eaten on March the 9th. Mucenici are made to celebrate the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, a religious holiday celebrated by the orthodox church.

Mucenici are a very authentic Romanian recipe and as a kid, I grew up with this tradition. The beginning of Spring is associated with this delicious dish which basically consists of vegan pastry in a nutty, sugary syrup. Think of it like a sweet pasta soup that tastes fantastic.

Mucenici take different shapes all around Romania, each region celebrating this holiday with its own type of mucenici. For example, where I'm from, Bucharest, we make small mucenici in the shape of an 8 and simmer them in walnut and sugar water to give them taste. The result is a fantastic sweet pasta soup with lots of nuts and sweet aromas.

I make my Romanian mucenici from scratch, every single year on the 8th of March, in preparation for the 9th of March, when we are meant to eat and enjoy the dish. In Romania, you can now buy 8-shaped pastry in the supermarket but I like to keep them traditional and make everything from scratch. Besides, it's really easy and fun to do it.

How to make traditional Romanian mucenici

Mucenici are made of 8-shaped dough and a sugary broth in which we boil them. Here's how to make mucenici from scratch, with step by step pictures to help you along the way.

Dough for mucenici:

In a standing mixer, place the flour, water, oil and salt. Mix for 15 minutes until the dough is well combined. It should be soft but not at all sticky. You should be able to touch it and have no dough stuck to your fingers.

Prepare a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. You won't need to bake anything, this is just so we can dry the mucenici overnight.

Dust your worktop with a little bit of flour and start rolling your dough. Roll it as much as you can until you get a sheet of 0.5 cm in thickness. You will need two round cookie cutters of different sizes. Alternatively, you can use a shot glass and another round item you can find in your kitchen. I used a shot glass and one of my round piping nozzles.

When the dough is rolled, cut circles using your larger cutter (in this case, the shot glass for me). Remove the unused dough around the circles and set aside.

Now take the smaller cutter and press it into the centre of your circles. You should obtain some rings.

Take each ring and twist it once, to form the number 8. Press a little in the middle to make sure the dough is sticking in that shape.

Place the 8-shaped dough on top of the parchment paper. Repeat this with the remaining rings.

Now use the remaining dough and repeat this process. You should have two full baking sheets full of 8-shaped dough.

Dust them with a little flour and allow the dough to dry overnight.

The mucenici broth:

Place the mucenici in around 2 litres of boiling water. Add rum essence, cinnamon and vanilla sugar and simmer the mucenici until they are fully cooked. You know they are cooked when they start to float at the top of the water. Make sure to taste one to ensure it's fine. It should have a bite and should be al dente, just like pasta.

Now add the sugar, orange zest, lemon zest and 2/3 ground walnuts. Simmer for another 5 minutes and remove from the fire. Taste and make sure the broth tastes sweet and nice.

The mucenici are now ready to be served. Serve them in a bowl with the remaining 1/3 ground walnuts on the side. You are meant to add a few more tsp of walnuts on top of the dish as you eat it.

That's it. You now know how to make a traditional Romanian recipe that welcomes Spring! It's delicious and brings back amazing childhood memories. I am certain you are going to have a lot of fun making mucenici in your own kitchen. After all, it's nice to make new memories with your own family.

Love traditional Romanian recipes? Try this fantastic Romanian sarmale, delicious traditional zacusca, cabbage stew, leek soup or layered cabbage.

This recipe has been developed entirely by Yuzu Bakes. Any resemblance with other recipes is purely coincidental.

Traditional Romanian Mucenici

5

Average: 5 (2 votes)

• Prep Time: 24 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins
• Total: 34 mins
• Serves 8 people

Categories: Dessert, Holiday, Lunch, Soup Cusine: Romanian

Description

How to make traditional Romanian Mucenici, a dish served in Spring and made only once every year. It's a traditional recipe with gorgeous 8-shaped dough served in a sugary broth.

Ingredients

(USA / Metric)

For the mucenici

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp water
• 3 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 dash salt

Mucenici Soup

• 2 liter water
• 1 cup caster sugar
• 2 packets vanilla sugar
• 4 sticks cinnamon
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 1 tbsp orange zest
• 2 cups walnuts, ground

Instructions

• Mucenici Dough

  1. In a standing mixer with the hook attachment, combine the flour, water, oil and salt. Mix for around 15 minutes until the dough is soft but not sticky.
  2. Let the dough rest for 20 minutes.
  3. Dust your worktop with a little flour then using a rolling pin, roll the dough as much as you can until it gets to roughly 1/2 cm in thickness.
  4. You will need two round cookie cutters, one larger and one smaller. (I used a shot glass and a smaller piping nozzle)
  5. Use the larger cookie cutter and cut rounds into the dough. Remove the excess dough and using the smaller cookie cutter, cut into the circles to obtain rings.
  6. Twist the rings to form the number eight. Press a little bit in the middle of the dough to ensure the number stays in place and set aside on parchment paper. Repeat with the remaining circles.
  7. Use the excess dough to roll it again and repeat the above process until you have no more dough left. You should have around two parchment papers full of 8-shapes. Sprinkle with a little flour and let the dough dry overnight.

• Mucenici Broth

  1. Bring 2 litres of water to a boil. Add the vanilla sugar and cinnamon sticks. Add the dried mucenici and simmer for around 10-15 minutes until the mucenici start floating. Try one to ensure they are cooked. They should be a bit al dente.
  2. Add the sugar, orange and lemon zest, rum essence and 2/3 walnuts. Mix with a wooden spoon until the sugar is fully dissolved.
  3. The mucenici are now ready to be served in a bowl. Use the remaining 1/3 nuts to sprinkle on the top of the mucenici during serving.

Nutritional Information

Total Nutrition Facts

Serves 8 people

Amount Per Serving
Calories 587
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 26 g			34%
	Saturated Fat 3 g		14%
	Trans Fat 0 g		0%
	Polyunsaturated Fat 15 g
	Monounsaturated Fat 8 g
Cholesterol 0 mg			0%
Sodium 33 mg			1%
Total Carbs 80 g			29%
	Dietary Fiber 4 g		16%
	Sugar 28 g		56%
Protein 11 g			22%
Vitamin A 0% Vitamin C 3% Calcium 5% Iron 22% Vitamin D 0% Magnesium 16% Potassium 4% Zinc 12% Phosphorus 24% Thiamin (B1) 53% Riboflavin (B2) 24% Niacin (B3) 25% Vitamin B6 14% Folic Acid (B9) 24% Vitamin B12 0% Vitamin E 8% Vitamin K 4%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice

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