Slovenian nut potica

8 Servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
2 Cakes compressed yeast
½ cup Lukewarm milk
1 tablespoon Sugar
6½ cup To 7 c sifted,
¾ cup Sugar all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Salt
1 cup Milk, scalded and cooled
4 Egg yolks, beaten
2 Eggs, beaten
½ cup Butter, softened
½ pint Sweet cream
½ cup Butter
½ cup Honey
2 pounds Ground walnuts
1 teaspoon Grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Salt
2 Egg yolks
½ pint Sour cream
1¾ cup Sugar
2 Egg whites, stiffly beaten
½ pounds Golden raisins, optional

Directions

FILLING

For Dough: Crumble yeast into lukewarm milk; add 1 Tablespoon sugar, stir and set aside till foamy.Sift flour, sugar and salt into large bowl; make well in center Add slightly cooled scalded milk, beaten egg yolks and eggs, butter and yeast. Mix thoroughly with wooden spoon. Knead with hands until no longer sticky (about 10 minutes).

Form dough into soft ball and place in greased bowl. Cover with waxed paper and damp cloth and allow to rise in warm place till double, about 1½ hours.

Meanwhile, prepare filling. Scald sweet cream, butter and honey together; pour over ground nuts. Add lemon peel, vanilla and salt.

Fold in egg yolks, sour cream, egg whites an sugar. If mixture is too dry, add another stiffly beaten egg white.

To complete: Punch down risen dough and place on floured cloth. Roll to about ¼-inch thickness (about 36 inches long and 22 inches wide). Spread nut filling on top of dough, leaving about 4 inches of plain dough on one long end. If desired, sprinkle raisins on top of filling. Beginning at long end, roll u jelly roll fashion. After dough is completely rolled, cut with floured spatula (to seal ends) into 4-9inch pieces. Pinch seam of dough closed. Place, seam side down, into four greased 9x5x3-inch bread pans. Prick dough with toothpicks on top to prevent bubbles.

Bake in preheated 325F. oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour or till cake tester comes out clean. Let stand in pans for 10-15 minutes after removing from oven. Remove from pans and cool completely on cake racks. Subj: Potica

The recipe for the potica which I just posted appeared in the Cleveland Pla Dealer on Thursday, September 8, 1966. I posted it exactly as it appeared. However, I have adapted the recipe a bit.

1. I use instant yeast rather than cake yeast. If I use regular instant yeast (Red Star, etc) I use 3 Tablespoons. If I use the French SAF yeast, use 2 Tablespoons. To use instant yeast, combine all dry ingredients in mixing bowl and mix at low speed for 1 minute.

Add the rest of the ingredients ( be sure to use ALL of the liquid called for, in this case I would scald 1 ½ cups of milk) and mix until dough forms a soft ball.

2. I divide the dough into 5 equal parts and roll each to a 12 x 18 rectangle. I find it easier to manage.

3. I bake on baking sheets, rather than in bread pans to get a more traditional shaped potica.

4. If desired, brush tops of each potica with an egg wash before baking to give a more shinny look Original Poster Not Shown on File

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