Romanian Crescent Rolls (Cornulete)

How to prepare romanian crescent rolls (cornulete)

1. Mix the lard with a spoon together with the baking powder dissolved in vinegar and water until the mixture is homogeneous - it will look like mayonnaise.
   * in the first photo you can see the consistency of the lard I used - it's quite firm, as I've seen softer lard in stores, but this one is from my grandmother - this is how it should be so you don't have problems with the dough
2. Add the flour and knead by hand until the dough is smooth. If the dough is crumbly and feels like it won't "come together" when you knead it, add 1 tablespoon of water. Then knead the dough for at least 5 minutes - it shouldn't stick to your hands.
   * the dough does NOT contain sugar
3. Divide the dough into 4 pieces.
4. Place parchment paper on the work surface and dust with flour. Roll out one piece of dough into a thin sheet. Cut the edges to get a large rectangle.
6. On the short side, about 2cm from the edge, place the filling (in my case jam) using a teaspoon. The filling strip should be about 2cm wide. Roll the dough over the filling from the edge, and when the filling is no longer visible, use a sharp knife to cut the sheet right next to the overlap area. Pull the resulting roll slightly back and then cut pieces of about 2-3cm with a thin, sharp knife. Place the crescents on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Repeat until you finish the rectangle. Then repeat with the other 3 pieces of dough.
   * I chose this method of forming the crescents to get an optimal ratio of dough to filling; with the classic method (cutting squares of about 7cm, putting half a teaspoon of filling at one corner and rolling toward the opposite corner), you get crescents with more dough and too little filling for my taste; but I took photos of how to roll classic crescents for those who want to follow tradition
7. About fillings:
   - whatever jam you use, it must be very thick - it shouldn't drip off the spoon; plum butter (silvoita) is the most suitable; or marmalade works well; I mixed the plum butter with just a splash of rum for better flavor - I love that combination
   - if you fill them with walnuts, mix ground walnuts with sugar and cinnamon to taste, optionally add raisins soaked in rum with warm water; then add stiffly beaten egg white foam until the walnut mixture holds together, no more; or more simply, you can mix walnuts with plum jam as in this walnut and jam cake recipe
   - you can also fill them with pieces of Turkish delight or marmalade
8. Bake at 180C (350F) for 30 minutes. The crescents shouldn't brown. If some filling leaks out at the edges (especially with jam), that's okay - after you dust them with sugar they'll look fine 😋 When you take them out of the oven, roll them while still hot in vanilla powdered sugar.

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