daring bakers, october.
I'd never actually heard of povitica before this month. I couldn't even keep track of whether it was called potivica or povitica, but I think I've now figured it out. A sweet bread filled with nuts and cocoa-cinnamon spice, the dough in povitica is rolled to paper thinness, then rolled up to reveal a distinct swirl upon slicing.
I found the recipe fairly straight-forward, and the bread itself kept nicely for a few days, which meant a great go-to snack with coffee during the week. I liked it best warm, when the buttery, coffee glaze was still slick, but my flatmate ate it cold, in thin slices, all week long. So that's a good sign.
Best of all, I think, was the method. The dough is rolled out on a sheet (I used a big pillowcase), which helps to prevent it sticking. When working with sticky doughs, I'm not sure I'll ever go back to working on the countertop. The sheet made it so unbelievably simple and, for me, it seemed like a really satisfying thing to do. Can't quite explain why, but I think it's to do with my love of linens. And flour. Just try it.
The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The
Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at
as it is to eat!
*****
Quarter Batch Dough Ingredients (Makes one loaf 1.25 lbs/565 grams)
To activate the Yeast:
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/2¼ gm) Sugar
¼ Teaspoon (1¼ ml/¾ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Warm Water
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/3½ gm/0.125 oz/½ sachet) Dry Yeast
Dough:
½ Cup (120 ml) Whole Milk
3 Tablespoons (45 ml/43 gm/1½ oz) Sugar
¾ Teaspoon (3¾ ml/9 gm/0.17 oz) Table Salt
1 Large Egg
1 tablespoon (30 ml/30 gm/¼ stick/1 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
2 cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz/0.62 lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided
Topping:
2 Tablespoons (30 ml) Cold STRONG Coffee
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/7 gm/¼ oz) Granulated Sugar
Melted Butter
Quarter Batch Filling Ingredients (enough filling for one loaf)
1¾ Cups (420 ml/280 gm/10 oz) Ground English Walnuts
¼ Cup (60 ml) Whole Milk
¼ Cup (60 ml/58 gm/½ stick/2 oz) Unsalted Butter
1 Egg Yolk From A Large Egg, Beaten
¼ Teaspoon (1¼ ml) Pure Vanilla Extract
½ Cup (120 ml/115 gm/4 oz) Sugar
¼ Teaspoon (1¼ ml/1 gm) Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
¼ Teaspoon (1¼ ml/¾ gm) Cinnamon
To Activate Yeast:
1. In a small bowl, stir 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into ½ cup warm water and
cover with plastic wrap.
2. Allow to stand for 5 minutes
To Make the Dough:
3. In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below
boiling (about 180°F/82°C), stirring constantly so that a
film does not form on the top of the milk. You want it hot
enough to scald you, but not boiling. Allow to cool
slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
4. In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, ¾ cup (180 gm/170
gm/6 oz) sugar, and the salt until combined.
5. Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2
cups (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.
6. Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.
7. Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until
smooth and does not stick. Note: I did not use all 8 cups of flour
8. Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams)
9. Place dough in 4 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a
kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, until doubled in size.
To Make the Filling:
10. In a large bowl mix together the ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon and cocoa.
11. Heat the milk and butter to boiling.
12. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture.
13. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
14. Allow to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread on the dough.
15. If the mixture thickens, add a small amount of warm milk.
To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
16. Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered.
17. Sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)
18. Place the dough on the sheet and roll the dough out with a rolling pin, starting in the middle
and working your way out, until it measures roughly 10-12 inches (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in
diameter.
19. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.
20. Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and
uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.
21. As you work, continually pick up the dough from the table, not only to help in stretching it
out, but also to make sure that it isn’t sticking.
22. When you think it the dough is thin enough, try to get it a little thinner. It should be so thin
that you can see the color and perhaps the pattern of the sheet underneath.
23. Spoon filling (see below for recipe) evenly over dough until covered.
24. Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.
25. Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in
the shape of a “U”, with the ends meeting in the middle. You want to coil the dough around
itself, as this will give the dough its characteristic look when sliced.
26. Repeat with remaining three loaves, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.
27. Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of ½ cup (120 ml) of cold STRONG coffee and 2
tablespoons (30ml/28 gm/1 oz) of sugar. If you prefer, you can also use egg whites in place of
this.
28. Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow
to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
29. Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas
mark 4.
30. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place
into the preheated oven and bake for
approximately 15 minutes.
31. Turn down the oven temperature to slow
300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an
additional 45 minutes, or until done.
32. Remove bread from oven and brush with
melted butter.
33. Check the bread every 30 minutes to ensure
that the bread is not getting too brown. You
may cover the loaves with a sheet of
aluminum foil if you need to.
34. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on
a wire rack for 20-30 minutes.
35. It is recommended that the best way to cut
Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the
loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated
knife.
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