Slovenia: Potica

Sometimes the problems with trying to make a cake specific to a country is that the country has so much variety in the different regions that this is pretty much impossible. Slovenia is a good example of this – according to Wikipedia, the country is split into 23 different culinary regions. As a result, you are never going to find a cake/dessert that is representative of the whole country, so all I can really say is that this cake is a very famous one from the Slovenian country.

Potica is a form of nut roll, very popular though the Balkan countries, and one that has migrated to America, becoming very popular there as well. This recipe features the traditional nut filling, however these can also be filled with chocolate, poppy seed, cottage cheese and more peculiarly, leek and tarragon. The cake is made by first make a dough, which is stretched out very thin. A layer of the nut filling is spread on the cake, before the cake is rolled up tightly. Traditionally (as here) the cake is rolled and placed in a round tin to bake, however it is also possible to bake the cake as a roll.

This recipe is taken from the website of the Slovene National Benefit Society.

Potica

Ingredients:

• 2oz instant yeast
• 1/2 cup milk (at room temperature)
• 1 tbsp caster sugar
• 1-1/2 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cups butter
• 5 eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 7 cups plain flour
• 2 pounds walnuts, chopped
• 1 stick butter
• 1-1/2 cups of mlk
• 2 cups of caster sugar
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• zest from 1 orange
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

Dissolve the yeast in the milk and add the sugar, before leaving for 10 minutes. Heat the milk and add the butter to the pan, stirring and then allowing to cool. Beat the egg yolks, sugar, salt and vanilla essence until pale and thick. Mix the egg and yeast mixtures with 3 cups of sifted flour, adding the rest of the flour until the mixture is no longer sticky. Knead the dough for 15 minutes, adding more flour if needed to ensure that it doesn’t become sticky. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise for about two hours. ( if like me, you have a cold house not suited to rising bread, preheat your oven, turn it off and allow the bread to rise in the residual heat).

Melt the butter before adding milk, sugar and honey. Raise the heat to the boil and pour the mixture over the chopped walnuts, adding the vanilla and grated citrus peel. Stir to combine completely and allow to cool. Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks and then fold into the cold nut mixture.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4 and grease a loaf tin. Roll out the dough very thinly, before spreading the cooled filling over the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Start to roll up the dough,stretching slightly with each roll. Once the dough has been fully rolled up, cut the dough to the appropriate length before placing in the ring tin, sealing the ends more completely by pulling the ends down and underneath the roll. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about one hour. Bake for 1 hour until golden brown.