Povitica - Daring Bakers

Light travels at its own speed, and can therefore choose when to arrive. That morning it had decided that it would be quite lazy – it was Sunday, after all; and even light needs a bit of time off sometimes. So it happened that when Divine Cherry awoke, the world was still shrouded in darkness. Naturally, that may have been due to the early hour at which she awoke, but mainly it was caused by the light's unwillingness to get out of bed. It felt rebellious at core, that day. Exactly how light can even conceive of the idea of rebelling against anything is a different matter altogether, and is incidentally quite minutely recorded in the bestseller Helios - An Auto-biopsy.

Be that as it may, Divine Cherry rose in darkness. But with darkness come nightmares as well. And there's nothing better than waking nightmares, for they carry in them the single most minuscule molecule in all the universes: ideas. (Named after the long-dead scientist I. D. Endasoup who discovered it at the bottom of his bowl).

Although it is still unknown what Divine Cherry's benign nightmare actually was, we can be certain that it contained dough, nuts, cocoa, dates and the willingness to spend hours on end preparing the most outrageously delicious thing ever: the povitica.

Here is what the world still remembers of that light-slow day:


Povitica
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!

Ingredients (for 2 cakes)

Yeast activation: 
- a teaspoon of sugar
- ½ teaspoon flour
- 60 ml warm water
- 1 package dry yeast

Dough:
- 240 ml milk 
- 85 g sugar 
- 1 and ½ teaspoon salt 
- 2 large eggs
- 60 g unsalted butter, melted
- 560g flour

Walnut filling (traditional filling): 
- 280 g coarsely chopped walnuts 
- 60 ml milk
- 58 g butter
- 1 large 
- ½ packet of vanillin
- 115 g sugar
- ½teaspoon of cocoa 
- 1 pinch of cinnamon powder


Cocoa and dates Filling:
- 270 g dates
- 130 g nuts 
- 1 large egg
- 80 ml milk
- 50 g butter
- 115 g sugar
- ½ packet of vanillin
- 3 teaspoons cocoa

Activate yeast
Put sugar, flour, and the dry yeast in a small bowl. Pour over the warm water and let rest for 5 minutes, until bubbles are formed on the surface.

Dough
Put the milk in a bowl and heat in the microwave (it must not boil!). Mix in a large bowl the hot milk, sugar and salt. Add the beaten eggs, the yeast mixture and a quarter of the flour. Mix thoroughly with a wooden spoon (in planetary low speed K hook). Add the flour gradually. You probably do not need to add all the flour. Stop adding it when the mixture is smooth but still a bit sticky (not liquid but of a certain consistency).
Knead the mass on a floured surface (in the planetary with the kneading hook) , add flour as you knead, but do not overdo it, just enough to work the dough. Do not add more flour than the quantity in the indicated recipe.
Divide the dough into two equal parts and place them in two slightly greased bowls. Let rise until doubled (2 hours). Prepare the filling in the meantime.

1. Streched dough

Filling
Finely chop the dry fruits with a knife. Mix sugar, chopped dates and nuts, vanilla and cocoa in a big bowl. Heat the milk with the butter in a soucepan. When boiling, pour the milk over the dry ingredients into the bowl. Stir and add the beaten egg. The filling should have the consistency of heavy honey.

Form the Povitica and cook
When the dough is ready, place it on a floured tablecloth (you will need space, it's better to work on a table for 6 people).  

2. Filling spread on the dough

With a rolling pin, start pulling the dough from the center. Continue to stretch the dough with your hands. It needs to be so thin that you can see through it (photo 1).
Constantly lift the dough off the table to make sure that it does not stick (that is also why it is better to work on a tablecloth).
 The mixture should now be a large thin rectangle: pour over the filling and spread evenly over the entire surface (photo 2).

Roll the dough and as you roll up, wipe the flour off. Put the roll, folding it on itself, in a cake mould (photo 3).
Let it rest for 15 minutes, no more.

3. Rolling the Povitica

Bake in hot oven (180°C) for 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 150°C and cook 45 minutes or until golden brown and cooked.

Note: The passage of pulling the dough seems complicated, but it is not: the dough is easy to work with, and does not oppose resistance if you did not add too much flour before.

Ricetta in Italiano


Povitica (dosi per 2 dolci)

Ingredienti
Attivazione lievito:

-un cucchiaino di zucchero

-½ cucchiaino farina

-60 ml acqua tiepida

-1 bustina lievito secco

Impasto

-240 ml latte

-85 g zucchero

-1 e ½ cucchiaino sale

-2 uova grandi

-60 g burro non salato sciolto

-560g farina 

Ripieno alle noci (ripieno tradizionale)

-280 g noci tritate grossolanamente

-60 ml latte

-58 g burro

-1 tuorlo (uovo taglia L)

-½ bustina di vanillina

-115 g zucchero

-1 punta di cacao

-1 punta di cannella in polvere 

Ripieno al cacao e datteri

-270 g datteri

-130 g noci

-1 uovo grande

-80 ml latte

-50 g burro

-115 g zucchero

-½ bustina di vanillina

-3 cucchiaini da caffe’ di cacao

Attivazione lievito
In una ciotolina mettere lo zucchero, la farina,e il lievito, versare l’acque tiepida sopra e far riposare per 5 minuti circa, finche si formeranno delle bollicine in superficie.

Impasto

Mettere il latte in una ciotola e scaldarlo in micronde (non deve bollire!). Mescolare in una grande ciotola il latte caldo, lo zucchero e il sale. Aggiungere le uova precedentemente sbattute, il miscuglio con il lievito e un quarto della farina. Amalgamare bene il tutto con un cucchiaio di legno ( in planetaria, gancio K bassa velocita’).Aggiungere pian piano la farina. Probabailmente non vi servira’ tutta la farina, fermatevi quando il composto e’ liscio ma ancora un po’ appiccicoso  (non liquido ma con una certa consistanza).

Impastate la massa (gancio a uncino in planetaria) sbattendola e staccandola dal ripiano infarinato  aiutandovi con una spatola se necessario, aggiungete farina man mano che impastate ma non esagerate, solo il necessario per lavorare l’impasto. Non aggiungere comunque piu’ farina di quella indicata nella ricetta.

Dividere l’impasto in due parti uguali e riporli in due ciotole leggermente unte. Lasciate lievitare fino al raddoppio (2 ore circa).

Preprate nel frattempo il ripieno.

Procedimento per il ripieno

1. Streched dough

Tritare al coltello abbastanza finemente la frutta secca. In una ciotola mescolare zucchero, datteri e noci tritate, vanillina e cacao. A parte scaldare il latte con il burro, quando bolle, versarlo nella ciotola sopra agli ingredienti secchi. Mescolare e aggiungere l’uovo, il ripieno deve avere la consistenza di miele pesante.

Formazione  e cottura dolce

2. Filling spread on the dough

Quando l’impasto e’ lievitato, appoggiarlo su una tovaglia infarinata (servira’ spazio, meglio lavorare su un tavolo da 6 persone).  Con un mattarello iniziare a tirare la pasta cominciando dal centro. Continuare a tirare la pasta aiutandosi con le mani. Dovra’ risultare cosi sottile da poterci vedere attraverso (foto1). Sollevare continuamente la pasta dal tavolo in modo da assicurarsi che non si appiccichi (per questo e’ meglio lavorare su una tovaglia).

L’impasto ora e’ un grande sottile rettangolo: versare il ripieno sopra e spalmarlo uniformemente su tutta la superficie (foto 2).

3. Rolling the Povitica

Arrotolare l’impasto, mentre lo si arrotola, pulirlo dalla farina(foto 3). Adagiare il salsicciotto, ripiegandolo su se stesso, in una teglia da plum cake o rotonda .

Lasciarlo riposare 15 minuti, non di piu’.

Infornare a forno caldo (180C) per 15 minuti, abbassare la temperatura a 150 C e portare a cottura in 45 minuti o finche’ e’ cotto.

 NB: Il passaggio della stiratura sembra complicato, ma non lo e’: la pasta e’ facilmente lavorabile e non opporra’ resistenza se non avete aggiunto troppa farina prima.