To make sponge dough, blend 1/2 cup wheat flour with 1/2 cup of boiling milk. Stir quickly to gain elastic mass. Dissolve pressed yeast in 1/2 cup of warm milk and mix with 2 cups of wheat flour. Let stay for 10 minutes. Combine both mixtures, cover with a napkin and let leaven for an hour.
Mix 9 egg yolks, sugar and salt, pour half of this mix into the sponge dough. Add a cup of wheat flour, knead and let it rise for an hour. Then stir in the rest of the egg mix, add 2 cups of wheat flour and knead dough until it doesn’t stick to hands.
Add warm melted butter gradually, knead again and add lemon zest, grated nutmeg, saffron liqueur, vanilla sugar and cognac. Let the dough rise again.
Stir, add raisins, rolled in flour and let it rise once more.
Divide the dough into parts, put them into molds filling half the volume. Sprinkle with raisins and let it rise to 2/3 mold volume. Then brush with an egg yolk and place in preheated to 340-360oF (170-180oC) oven for 45 minutes.
