povitica

I skipped the last Daring Baker's challenge, because it was croissants from scratch. There was no way I was making that without losing my mind. So I didn't make croissants. I felt guilty not making September's recipe, but on the other hand wasn't very sorry, because it was my first challenge after being back at work, and I was still adjusting to my new life. It's pretty hectic, and weekends are kinda sacred. Not much time for marathon baking sessions.

So this month, I had every intention of participating. The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!

I was a tiny bit disappointed with the challenge being bread, again, but I though playing around with the filling would be fun. I had fully intended to fill one of the loaves with leftover hazelnut praline, but I didn't have enough, so decided on a cinnamon, brown sugar and cocoa filling for one, and s'mores filling for the other.

Povitica
Makes two loaves

To activate the Yeast:
1 Teaspoon (5 ml/4 ½ gm) Sugar
½ Teaspoon (2½ ml/1½ gm) All-Purpose (Plain) Flour
¼ Cup (60 ml) Warm Water
1 Tablespoon (15 ml/7 gm/¼ oz/1 sachet) Dry Yeast

Dough:
1 Cup (240 ml) Whole Milk
6 Tablespoons (90 ml/85 gm/3 oz) Sugar
1½ Teaspoons (7½ ml/9 gm/1/3 oz) Table Salt
2 Large Eggs
¼ Cup (60 ml/60 gm/½ stick/2 oz) Unsalted Butter, melted
4 cups (960 ml/560 gm/19¾ oz/1¼ lb) All-Purpose Flour, measure first then sift, divided

Filling:
Brown sugar, cinnamon, cocoa
Marshmallow fluff, cocoa, graham crumbs

Topping:
beaten egg white
Melted Butter

To Activate the Yeast:
In a small bowl, stir sugar, flour, and the yeast into the warm water and cover with plastic wrap.
Allow to stand for 5 minutes

To Make the Dough:
In a medium saucepan, heat the milk up to just below boiling (about 180°F/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. Allow to cool slightly, until it is about 110°F/43°C.
In a large bowl, mix the scalded milk, the sugar, and the salt until combined.
Add the beaten eggs, yeast mixture, melted butter, and 1 cup (480 ml/280 gm/10 oz) of flour.
 Blend thoroughly and slowly add remaining flour, mixing well until the dough starts to clean the bowl.
Turn dough out onto floured surface and knead, gradually adding flour a little at a time, until smooth and does not stick.
Divide the dough into 2 equal pieces (they will each weight about 1.25 pounds/565 grams)
Place dough in 2 lightly oiled bowls, cover loosely with a layer of plastic wrap and then a kitchen towel and let rise an hour and a half in a warm place, 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 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 (25½ cm by 30½ cm) in diameter.
Spoon 1 to 1.5 teaspoons (5ml to 7 ½ ml/4 gm to 7 gm) of melted butter on top.
Using the tops of your hands, stretch dough out from the center until the dough is thin and uniformly opaque. You can also use your rolling pin, if you prefer.
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 of the sheet underneath.
Spoon filling evenly over dough until covered.
Lift the edge of the cloth and gently roll the dough like a jelly roll.
Once the dough is rolled up into a rope, gently lift it up and place it into a greased loaf pan in the shape of a “U”, 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, coiling each rope of dough in its own loaf pan.
Brush the top of each loaf with a couple of beaten egg whites.
Cover pans lightly will plastic wrap and allow to rest for approximately 15 minutes.

To Bake the Dough

Preheat oven to moderate 350°F/180°C/gas mark 4.
Remove plastic wrap from dough and place into the preheated oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.
Turn down the oven temperature to slow 300°F/150°C/gas mark 2 and bake for an additional 45 minutes, or until done.
Check the bread at 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 oven and brush with melted butter.
Allow to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes, still in the bread pan. Allowing it to cool in the pan helps the loaf to hold its shape.
It is recommended that the best way to cut Povitica loaves into slices is by turning the loaf upside down and slicing with a serrated knife.

Although not surprised, I was kinda disappointed with the final result of my bread. It was a bit too dry for my taste, but I might try toasting and buttering it for breakfast. To be fair, I think I messed up the amount of flour I was supposed to add to the dough. I found it behaved weirdly. Took forever to double in size, and by the time it had, I had to stuck it in the fridge because I didn't have time to finish the recipe then. It stayed in the fridge overnight and the next day. I brought it back to room temperature before rolling out, not as thinly as I was supposed to because I'm not a very patient baker. I forgot to butter the dough at that point, and made up the filling as I went.

I didn't get very much rise while the bread was baking, but it was done in an hour, like the recipe said. I left it to cool in the pan over night and the next day, without covering it, so maybe that had something to do with the dryness too?

In any case, although not my favorite thing to bake, I have to admit that it was pretty cool cutting into the loaf and seeing the pretty swirls!

Can't wait to see what next month's challenge will be, and see if I'm able to find time to enjoy making it!