Povitica

Povitica (poe-vi-tee-sza) is a very good thing. This is an Eastern European nut loaf.


I have been wanting to bake some of this for quite a while and I used it as an excuse to put off another day of diving into my cookie baking.


First make the dough. The instructions are in the next photo because I got these out of order. This is how you make the filling. Pulse walnuts in a food processor until they are ground fine. You will need 2 cups after they are ground. Combine them in a bowl with 1/4 cup of whole milk, 1/4 cup of melted butter, 1 large egg yolk, 1 tsp. vanilla, 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon.

For the dough, mix 1/2 cup of whole milk, 3 1/2 tablespoons of sugar, 3/4 tsp. salt. 1 large egg and 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Add 2 tsp. rapid rise yeast. Mix in 2 cups of flour. Knead well and place in a buttered bowl, cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to let it rise for 16 hours.


After 16 hours make the filling and roll out the dough. Roll it on a floured surface until you have roughly a 24 inch square. You should almost be able to see through the dough.


Spread the nut mixture over the dough up to about an inch from the edge.


Start to roll the dough and pull it towards you as you roll so it will form a tight log.



Place it in a buttered bread pan by folding it in thirds to form an "S". Cover it with plastic and place in a warm spot to rise for 2 hours.


After 2 hours brush the surface with melted butter. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake it for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes. lower the oven temperature to 300 degrees and continue baking for 45 minutes. If it starts to get too dark you can cover it with foil.


Fresh from the oven.


Allow it to rest in the pan for about a half hour.


The flavor actually improves after a day.


This is my new favorite nut roll. It is so much better than ones I have made where the nut filling is much thicker.


And it makes a prettier loaf.


I will be making this with poppy seeds too. I also want to make a savory one.