Cozonac

(Original recipe by Sanda Marin , but this is changed a little  by my husband)

Ingredients:

• 50 gr yeast
• 1000 gr flour (or more, if necessary)
• 450 ml milk (or more, if necessary)
• 250 gr sugar
• 4 egg whites
• 7 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp salt
• 250 gr butter (and little more to grease the pots)
• 1 tbsp rom
• 1 tsp vanilla sugar
• 2 tbsp oil

Step one: The yeast starter

• Dissolve the yeast in 150 ml of lukewarm milk; stir in a teaspoon of sugar and let the yeast activate.
• Stir in 3 tablespoons of flour in 150 ml of boiling milk. Mix well (to not make lumps)
• When the mixture is cool enough to be handled by bare hands, mix in the yeast and beat the mixture well.
• Sprinkle a tablespoon of flour, cover and set aside to rise.
• It should take around 30 mins in a warm, dry environment

Step two : Prepare the side ingredients

• Melt the butter
• Mix the egg yolks with salt. While mixing well, add the remaining of sugar, slowly, until the egg yolk mixture is a frothy cream.
• When the yeast mixture if nearly ready, beat the egg whites, until they become a foamy stiff mix.

Step three: The dough

• After the yeast mixture is ready and the butter cool to be touched, stir in the yeast mixture another 150 ml of lukewarm milk, the egg yolk mixture, and the whipped egg whites. Mix to incorporate. Add the melted butter and mix to form a uniform, mostly liquid mixture.
• Stir in slowly the remaining flour, while mixing thoroughly.
• If the mixture became too dry, add little by little more milk. If the mixture is still too wet, add little by little more flour. Stop when the mixture feels almost right to be kneaded. Knead lightly for a few minutes to form a smooth dough.
• Add the oil, vanilla sugar and, rum, while kneading the dough thoroughly. 
• Improve the texture of the dough if needed, by repeating the previous step: if the mixture is too dry to be kneaded, add a few milk. If the mixture is too sticky, add a few flour. Stop kneading when the dough feels elastic, smooth, and uniform.
• The window test can help determine when the dough is ready.
• Cover the doubt and leave the dough to rise for 2-3 hours on a warm room.
• The dough can grow 2-3x its size, so ensure there is enough space in the container; If necessary, split into 2 big bowls.

Step four: Baking

• Grease the cake trays with butter
• Split the dough into portions based on your trays. Aim using dough that can fill half the capacity of each tray. Elongate, intertwine, and shape.
• If filling is wanted, add Turkish delight, chocolate chips, raisins, nuts, cinnamon, sugar etc. in this step.
• Put the final form of the dough in the tray, and leave to rise 30 to 60 minutes in a warm room.
• When the cozonacii are ready to bake, beat an egg and glaze their top for a uniform color.
• Bake at 140C fan, 160C convection, for up to 1 hour.
• The baking duration would vary for each tray size, Small 400 ml trays would bake in 20-25 mins, medium 1500 ml trays would bake in around 45 minutes, and a big 4500 ml pot would bake in around an hour. If size is not known, check on 20 min intervals.

Enjoy.