Poh-vee-tee-sah. That’s how it’s called. And it’s been such a teaser since I first laid eyes on it. Magnificent isn’t she?
This bread was one of the challenges on the Great British Baking Show, and I’ve never seen bread being made this way. Neither had the contestants (save one), which made for a very interesting episode!
This bread is the embodiment of the philosophy “True beauty lies on the inside”. From the time you shape the roll, and try to ease it into the tin, it feels like a giant sausage, and I feared the filling would burst out at any minute. Ugly, ugly looking thing it was. And when you take it out of the oven, it is so misshapen and bumpy to look at. Oh! but when you take that first slice – perfection! Really does surprise you!
Then roll! Simply lift the bed sheet on one end, and watch how it rolls itself. If that’s too scary for you as it was for me, then just do it by hand, forming it into one long ‘tube’.
Then you lay it gently into the prepped tin, lassoing it over itself to form two loops. Cover and let it rise for an hour.
This was one of my more interesting projects and I had tremendous fun making it. This is a dessert bread, I must warn you, and it is sweet. The walnuts and the cocoa make for a very fragrant house, even before it is put into the oven, and for several hours after. And if you aren’t contesting on some TV show with the timer running, this is a very fun and relaxing bread to bake on special weekends with friends and family abound.
Croatian Povitica
- Prep Time:40m
- Cook Time:1h
- Total Time:4h 10m
- Serves: 6
- Yield: 1 large loaf
Ingredients
For the dough
- 300 g (10½ oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- 40 g (1½ oz) caster sugar
- 7 g salt
- 10 g (⅓ oz) fast-action yeast
- 30 g (1oz) unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg, beaten
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 150 mL (5½ fl oz) whole milk, warmed
For the filling
- 280 g (10 oz) walnut pieces
- 100 g (3½ oz) sugar
- 2 tbsp. cocoa powder
- 60 g (2¼ oz) unsalted butter
- 4 tbsp. whole milk
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
- 1 egg yolk, beaten
Pre-filling
- 15 g (½ oz) butter, melted
Egg-wash
- 1 egg white, beaten
For the icing (optional)
- 100 g (3½ oz) icing sugar
- a few drops of water
Instructions
Prepping the dough
- Mix the flour, sugar, salt, yeast in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center and add all the wet ingredients (egg, butter, milk and vanilla). Stir to combine.
- If using an electric mixer, use the paddle or bread kneading attachment and mix on medium speed until you get a soft, smooth dough that springs back when pressed. If doing this by hand, tip the sticky batter onto a clean workspace, and knead with your fingers, pulling and stretching the wet dough until you get a soft, smooth dough,
- Rub some oil in a clean large bowl, and place the smooth dough. Cover and let it rise in a warm place for about an hour.
Prep the filling
- In a food processor, blitz the walnuts, cocoa and sugar until you end up with a sand-like gritty mixture. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter, milk, vanilla and egg yolk. Set aside.
Rolling the dough
- Lay a clean bed sheet or large cloth on the work surface. Cover it with cling film.
- Transfer the risen dough onto the cling film surface.
- Roll out the dough into a rough rectangle about 20" x 12"
- Using a pastry brush, spread the 15g melted butter over the rolled out dough evenly.
- Use your fingers and stretch the dough into a rectangle about 40" x 24". If it rips, pinch it together. Stretch it till you can see the bed sheet underneath in places.
Filling and rolling the dough
- Mixing wet and dry ingredients of the filling and spread over the stretched dough.
- Lift the bed sheet at one end and tip it so that the dough rolls itself. Alternatively, use your hands to roll the filled dough like a swiss-roll.
Into the tin it goes
- Rub a little oil on the insides of a loaf tin (approx measuring 19x12x9cm).
- Lay the rolled dough into the tin, going around once at the base in a \'U\', then piling the loop again on top. Tuck the open end in.
- Cover with a large plastic bag and let it rise in a warm space for an hour.
Bake!
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/ 350°F.
- Brush the risen loaf with egg wash.
- Bake at 180°C/ 350°F for 15 minutes.
- Reduce temperature to 150°C/300°F and continue baking for 45 minutes. If the loaf starts to darken on the top, cover with foil.
- Remove from the oven and let the loaf cool within the tin over a wire rack for about 30 minutes.
Icing the bread: (optional)
- Mix a little water with the icing sugar to get a smooth, runny paste.
- Turn out the loaf from the tin.
- Drizzle over the loaf, slice and serve after the icing sets hard.
Chelsea says
This is delicious!! My Croatian boyfriend says it is delicious and authentic; the only part that’s he wasn’t used to growing up is the cocoa powder, but he thinks that’s great too!
I first tried your recipe about six months ago and have probably made this ten times since. My next experiment might be to try honey instead of sugar (for a friend who can’t have sugar), in the filling as well as in the dough. Do you think that would work??
Tina Dawson says
I don’t see why honey can’t work! I am so very glad you liked this!
Janet K Schwandt says
My daughter’s best friend had this as a child every year at Christmas – their family was Croatian. She just lost the last of her family and I was thinking of trying this for her this year BUT they made a garlic version? Ever heard of this?
Tina Dawson says
No, I can’t say that I have! Let me know if you try it though, sounds intriguing!
Rachael Dawson says
I am planning to do this for holiday parties, but I have a friend who is allergic to nuts. Can I leave them out completely or replace them with something? I have no idea what would work.
Tina Dawson says
Have you considered skipping the filling and just using melted chocolate? I haven’t tried it before but as long as you spread it in a thin, even layer and then roll, I don’t see why it shouldn’t work.
Mary Friedl says
My Grandmother and Mother were from Croatia. I saw this made so many times. The nuts make the filling. You just would not make it without the nuts. Also, there was no drizzled icing on it or cocoa. There was cinnamon in it. The filling is very, very rich if made correctly. It doesn’t need any more sugar.
Tina Dawson says
Thank you Mary, for your beautiful notes. I’ll be sure to incorporate them when I veganize this loaf soon.
Kathy Rowe says
It works great without walnuts. I’ve done many loaves that way.
Laura says
What a beautiful loaf of bread. I can’t wait to make this for my family.
Unfortunately, I am allergic to walnuts. What nut can I substitute in place of the walnuts?
Tina Dawson says
I am sure you can substitute any of your favorite nuts in this recipe – I think since it’s got cocoa in it, hazelnuts would do beautifully!
Dave Dixon says
I baked this for a World Cup Final (Croatia and France) breakfast party. The recipe is great – thanks! I made a mistake. I had separate bowls with 30 gms melted butter for the dough and 60 gms melted for the filling and accidentally put the 60 gms in the dough. I realized this while making the filling, so doubled the butter to 60 gms. The dough was fine – I think the additional butter made it a little easier to roll out thin. Ordinarily, this recipe would *never* work at this altitude/dryness: the dough would be dry as paper before it was stretched out enough. However, I made this during a big summer rainstorm and the humidity was near 90%.
Tina Dawson says
OMG! I can’t believe that the mishap yielded such beautiful results! I saw your photo on my Insta DM and was absolutely thrilled! Thank you for sharing! I love stories like this. (The next World Cup, I will be rooting for Croatia to win!)
Stephanie says
What are the recipes conversions for Cups? This repipe, makes NO mention of what kind of ounces you are refering to. Are you weighing or pouring? Neither of which is realling done in an American kitrchen, at least not for both wet and dry ingredients. Please advice for this recipe.
Tina Dawson says
Hey Stephanie, I’ve given measurements in weights, which is more accurate than measurement by cups. I’d recommend using a kitchen scale for this recipe for precise results.
Jasmin JasminCookBook says
I had povitica a few years back in my holiday in Peljesac. It was perfect with a cup of morning coffee.
Tina Dawson says
It really is something, isn't it? 🙂