Povitica is a sweet dessert bread with a filling of cinnamon sugar and walnuts. This Povitica recipe makes the perfect holiday bread.NOTE: Please see the blog post for detailed, step-by-step photos on how to shape, fill, and roll the dough.
In a large bowl mix together ground walnuts, sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa.
Heat milk and butter to boiling. Pour the liquid over the nut/sugar mixture. Add eggs and vanilla and mix thoroughly.
Allow the filling to stand at room temperature until ready to be spread onto the dough.
If the mixture thickens, stir in a small amount of warm milk.
Activate Yeast:
In a small bowl, stir 2 teaspoons sugar, 1 teaspoon flour, and the yeast into warm water and cover with plastic wrap.
Allow yeast to stand for 5 minutes.
Make the Dough:
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180 F or 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. Cool slightly, until it is about 110 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, ¾ cup sugar, and the salt until combined.
Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 2 cups of flour.
Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough just starts to clean the bowl. Don't add too much flour at this point, you still want it to be fairly wet and sticky.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick. Note: I did not have to use all 8 cups of flour.
Divide the dough into 4 equal pieces (they will each weigh about 1.25 pounds)
Place dough in 4 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for an hour and a half, or until doubled in size.
To Roll and Assemble the Dough:
Spread a clean sheet or cloth over your entire table so that it is covered. Sprinkle sheet with a couple of tablespoons to a handful of flour (use flour sparingly)
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 in diameter. Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of melted butter on top.
Using the tops of your hands, stretch the dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. If you prefer, you can use a rolling pin. 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. 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 on the sheet underneath.
Spoon filling evenly over the dough until covered.
Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough up like a jelly roll. Once the dough is rolled up into a log shape, gently lift it up and place it in the shape of a “U” into a greased loaf pan, 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. Repeat with remaining three loaves.
Brush the top of each loaf with a mixture of 1/2 cup of cold STRONG coffee and 2 tablespoons of sugar. If you prefer, you can use egg whites in place of the coffee.
Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes. Turn down the oven temperature to 300 degrees F. and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done. Check the Povitica 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.
Remove bread from the oven, brush with melted butter, then allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes.
The best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slice with a serrated knife.