Boiled Martyrs: The Traditional Step-by-Step Recipe

Why do we prepare the boiled martyrs recipe on March 9th, in Wallachia? Because the feast of the 40 Holy Martyrs of Sevastia overlapped with the old beginning of the agricultural year, and the two traditions merged into the Romanian custom of martyrs.

In ancient pre-Christian rituals, dough figurines were shaped as sacred symbols of sacrifice and rebirth, closely linked to the agrarian calendar. Later, with Christianity, the martyrs also became images of the 40 soldiers martyred at Sevastia, drowned in a frozen lake for their faith. In the Wallachian tradition, figure-eight shaped cakes are boiled in a sweet liquid, with sugar, cinnamon and walnuts, which symbolically recalls the lake water and the sacrifice of the saints.

This is how the recipe for Wallachia martyrs so beautifully combines the memory of ancient rites with the Christian faith!

Let's now see what the recipe for boiled murcenici is. We will not use ready-made murcenici from the market, but we will prepare them step by step, as housewives from the Wallachia area have done over the centuries.

Ingredients needed for boiled martyrs

For the dough

• 150 ml lukewarm water
• 60 ml oil (approx. 4 tablespoons)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 250 g flour (or as much as the dough requires)

For the syrup

• 200 g slightly roasted and ground walnut kernels
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon or 2-3 sticks
• 150 g sugar (to taste)
• grated zest of ½ lemon
• a little vanilla sugar
• a pinch of salt

Preparing boiled martyrs step by step

Sure, it's easier to buy a bag of ready-made martenici directly from the store. But know that it's almost... therapeutic to knead them with your own hands. If you have time to cook and miss Romanian traditions, it's worth trying, wherever you are. Shaping these little rolls gives you the opportunity to relive a centuries-old custom and put a little soul into each piece of dough.

And the best part is that you can order everything you need for the recipe - from flour to the baking spices that give the unmistakable aroma of the martenitsa. The final satisfaction, when you see the bowl of boiled, sweet and fragrant martenitsa, will be worth the effort.

How to prepare the dough

For the boiled martyrs recipe, the dough is made simply, similar to that of eggless pasta, from basic foods .

Heat the water a little, then sift the flour into a mound on the board and make a well in the middle. Pour the lukewarm water, oil and salt into this. Next comes the essential part of preparing the martyrs: kneading. The dough must be worked well, until it becomes soft and elastic, then beaten for about a quarter of an hour, to make it tender. It must be quite dry, so that the martyrs will then dry more quickly, in a few hours.

When it's ready, sprinkle some flour on the table, roll out the dough and start shaping it. To give them their specific shape, you have three options: either cut rings using a larger and a smaller glass, then twist them into a figure eight, or take a piece of dough, roll it out as thin as possible, cut 5–6 cm sticks and glue the ends together to get the traditional "8".

The third option is the fastest and most loved by children: cutting out the martyrs with a special tool. Do you remember how you used to prepare the martyrs with your mother or grandmother, when you used the cutter? You had to carefully press down on the dough, without the shape "biting" from the already cut martyrs, so that the traditional "8" remained perfectly outlined.

When you finish shaping or cutting out the martyrs, flour them well and leave them to dry for 2-3 hours.

How to prepare the syrup

For the syrup, boil 2 liters of water with grated lemon peel, a pinch of salt, and cinnamon. These give the base flavor and the classic perfume of the marjoram. If you want to enrich the taste, you can also add orange peel.

Boiling of the Martyrs

When the water starts to boil, add the scallions and let them boil. You will know they are ready when they rise to the surface. At that point, add the sugar , vanilla sugar and some of the ground walnuts, stirring gently. Let it boil for a few more minutes and turn off the heat.

How are boiled martyrs served?

After the martyrs have "rested" a little in the pot, you can serve them in bowls, sprinkled with walnuts on top. If you prefer the dessert not to be very sweet, reduce the amount of sugar in the pot and let everyone add to their plate according to taste, from a bowl of walnuts mixed with sugar.

Tips and tricks for perfect boiled marzipans

• The dough should be dry , not soft and sticky. Add flour gradually, until you feel the dough coming off your hands easily and becoming elastic. The secret is to add exactly as much flour as the cake "requires".
  
  
• Rest is important . After kneading, let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, covered with a clean towel. During this time, the gluten relaxes, and the martyrs will be easier to shape and will not break when stretched.
  
  
• The thickness of the sheet matters. When rolling out the dough, keep it 2–3 mm thick. This way, the martyrs will cook evenly and have the fine texture typical of this tradition.
  
  

With these little attentions, the boiled martyrs recipe will turn out exactly as you want it: delicate, flavorful, and full of memories.

Some prefer baked martyrs, with honey and walnuts, others wait every year for the boiled, sweet and aromatic ones. If you are part of the Wallachian martyrs camp, be sure to try our boiled martyrs recipe , and savor their unmistakable taste!