Povitica – A Kansas City Tradition

Povitica, mmmm… Kansas Citians take this lovely rolled pastry “bread” for granted as a staple of the culinary landscape, but really, in the U.S. it’s pretty unique to find this delicacy!

Povitica came to the area with Croatian immigrants via Kansas City Kansas, so the Croatian name and tradition is what we’re used to here. However, variations on this delight occur in various countries across Europe. One example of that is “Cozonoc” in Romania, where I first encountered it in my husband’s hometown, and I instantly fell in love. I now regularly teach cooking classes on the pastry.

“Babkas are often made by slicing and stacking the dough like little cinnamon rolls in a loaf pan then topping them with a streusel. In Slovenia, they are often spiraled in a round cake pan like a snake.  Austrian versions are often baked in a Gugelhupf pan (similar to a bundt pan) into a ring and then sliced. They can also be sliced and baked either in muffin tins or in a large sheet pan for individual servings.

Besides nuts, you can fill them with cheese, fruit, chocolate, the list is endless! But here’s the classic, give it a shot and impress your friends with a homemade KC original!

Povitica

• 4 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for rolling)
• ¼ cup white sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 teaspoons quick yeast
• Grated rind of 1 small lemon (or small orange)
• 1-½ cups lukewarm milk
• 2 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• ½ cup melted butter

Put flour, sugar, salt, yeast, and citrus rind in a large mixing bowl, stir together. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add milk, egg yolks, and melted butter. Mix well with a wooden spoon until the dough comes away from the sides of the mixing bowl. Turn dough out on lightly floured surface and knead until dough is smooth and elastic (dough will be wet but not sticky).

Divide dough and freeze or refrigerate if making dough ahead at this point. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to a month. Cover the bowl and place to rise in a warm draft free place until at least doubled in volume, about 60 minutes. Make the filling while the dough is rising. Dough for 2 loaves.

Traditional with a Twist
(walnut filling)

• 2 cups English walnuts (about ½ lb)
• 1 cup brown sugar (This is the twist! Use an equal amount of white for a totally traditional flavor)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup melted butter
• 1 egg
• ¼ cup milk
• 1 tablespoon dark rum or ½ tsp rum extract (extract is more  common in eastern Europe)
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon

Grind walnuts in a food processor or by placing in a large ziplock bag and pulverizing with a rolling pin or meat cleaver. Place in a bowl with all other filling ingredients and mix until a loose filling forms. If the filling looks too hard to spread add additional milk.

Assembly
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Put a sheet, tablecloth, or something similar on your rolling area, and cover lightly with flour.  Dust your rolling pin with flour as well.  Roll out dough for 1 loaf of povitica in a rectangular shape around 10×24, a little less than ¼ inch thick, or as thin as you dare! Spread the filling over the dough thinly going to the very edge of the dough if possible.

Roll over the long edge of the dough on one side at the very edge. On the same side that you’ve started the roll, lift the tablecloth or sheet underneath rolling the dough up as you lift the cloth. Once the dough is in a long jelly roll style loaf, fold each end into the middle to form a figure 8 shape. Twist the figure 8 to form an “S” loaf and carefully transfer to a very well greased loaf pan.

Bake at 325 for 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool loaf in the pan for 1 hour (the loaf is heavy and needs to cool for the structure) Remove from pan, and slice (slicing the loaf upside down yields prettier slices). Enough filling for 1 loaf.