Potica - Slovene Festive Cake

Those who have been to Slovenia will know that two of the most common delicacies to be offered to visitors by way of hospitality are the blueberry brandy known as Borovničevec, and the festive nut cake Potica (pronounced Paw-teetsa).

Now we have the chance to enjoy some traditional Slovene cuisine at home with this recipe for Potica.

Ingredients:

Sift the flour into a bowl, cover and put in a warm place. Prepare the yeast: mix fresh yeast with two tablespoons of flour and a teaspoon of sugar then stir and allow to rise in a warm place. In the meantime, the fat, egg yolks or whole sugar. Warm the milk gently, grated lemon peel and the mixture of fat, eggs and sugar; to cool. Make a dough from warmed flour, milk and yeast (do not use all the milk at gradually and only if and necessary.) Knead and beat dough until it no longer sticks bowl, then cover it with a put it in a warm place to rise

In the meantime, whisk the fat, egg yolks or whole eggs and sugar. Warm the milk gently, add salt, grated lemon peel and the prepared mixture of fat, eggs and sugar; allow to cool. Make a dough from the warmed flour, milk and yeast mixture (do not use all the milk at once, add it gradually and only if and when necessary.) Knead and beat the dough until it no longer sticks to the bowl, then cover it with a cloth and put it in a warm place to rise.

A recent Potica baking competition in Sedbergh led to this cartoon appearing in the Zreče newspaper Novice, showing a Zreče cook asking “Was it a success?”, to which the Sedbergh cook replies “Well I know how to say Potica, I just don’t know how to make it!”

While the dough is rising prepare the filling. Pour the milk into the pan, add the butter and half the sugar and bring to the boil; use the hot mixture to scald the walnuts. Warm the honey separately and add it to the walnuts, together with the grated lemon peel, cinnamon and rum. Let the mixture cool. Beat the egg whites and the remaining sugar until hard and fold carefully into the filling.

When the dough has doubled in size, roll it out to the thickness of one finger. Spread the filling over it and roll into a tight roulade, then place the Potica in a greased baking tin. Allow to rise again in a warm place.

Whisk an egg, spread it over the cake and bake for approximately one hour in a preheated oven. When it is done, remove the potica from the baking tin immediately to prevent the crust from becoming moist and breaking away from the rest of the cake.