Transylvanian Yeast Cake

In a small bowl, mix the lukewarm milk and crumbled yeast. Stir until yeast dissolves. Place flour into a large bowl (if using a hand mixer) or bowl of your stand mixer, and make a well in the middle. Pour the milk-yeast mixture in the well and mix it with a bit of the flour. Add eggs and very soft butter. Knead using the kneading attachment of your mixer. (You can also knead this in a food processor.)

Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and let the dough rise in a warm place. It should double in size, about 1 hour.

Prepare a springform pan, diameter 26 cm (about 10 inches) by lining it with baking paper all over. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (360ºF).

Place the oil in a shallow bowl or a soup/pasta plate. In a separate similar dish, mix the nuts and sugar.

Remove pieces of dough out of the bowl (this is easier using 2 tablespoons). Coat each piece first in the oil and then the nut-sugar mixture. Place each piece in the prepared pan. After you’ve arranged about the half of the dough pieces into the pan, it might seem the pan is too small for all the pieces to fit in. I thought so too at first, but I was wrong—everything fits perfectly, you just have to push the pieces that are already in the pan around and you will be able to fit the remaining ones as well.

Bake the cake for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean and dry. Enjoy lukewarm or cold.