Potica (sp) - Slovenian cake

waybomb

waybomb

Well-known member
I'd like to share this here. This is something my grandma used to make when still around. My mom never made it, but my wife learned from gandma how to make this.

I've probably spelled it wrong. It is pronounced poe-TEE-tsa

I have never seen this sold anywhere in a store, so I believe it to be unique.

Gram used to make "personal" pieces of it for me. She'd make them about 9 inches long for me and rolled them to about 5 inches in diameter and then smashed them to about 2" tall on the baking pan. Talk about fat food - but man I loved them.

It is a lot of work, especially preparing the dough. It is fragile when done right.

Potica (poe-tee-tsa)​

Dough

5 cups flour
1.5 sticks margarine
5 egg yolks, beaten with rind of one lemon shaved.
2 pkgs dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup sugar
1.5 cups warm milk


Filling

2 lbs ground walnuts
1 egg beaten
½ cup honey
½ cup sugar
1 cup milk
1.5 sticks margarine
½ teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon flavoring
5 egg whites, beaten stiff



Mix flour, salt, and margarine like pie dough. Add yolks and shaved lemon rind. Mix in a pre made mixture of milk, yeast and sugar. Knead for a few minutes. Wrap with plastic wrap, and leave in refrigerator at least 4 hours. Overnight is better.

Next morning, divide the dough in the sizes you want, and roll it out very thin on floured cotton cloth (you do this because you must roll the dough very thin – any other surface will result in torn dough). Spoon the complete filling mixture over the rolled out dough, covering the entire surface, than roll it up like a jelly roll.

At this point, you can cut them into small pieces, big pieces, join the ends and make a circle, or joint the ends ad put in a cake form.

Bake 350 degrees for 1 to 1.25 hours. When cool, very lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar.


FILLING: Boil honey, margarine, sugar, and milk for 5 minutes. Cool. Add beaten eggs, nuts, and flavoring. Fold in beaten egg whites.
 
That sounds GREAT!

Little bit of work though. I think I will just come by your place and try some. :hide:
 
Wow that is a tremendous amount of filling, then. I have also seen large ones like coffeecakes. Sorta like gubana.
 
Ya, grandma used to make them like coffecakes as well. She'd make the rolls really big, the shove them or pack them into a tin form, and bake them in the form.

But I like the rolled logs better. The crust sorta holds the stuff inside, well, inside.
 
Did you know there is love in every Slovenian? Damn sure is. I was weaned on potica and strudels, as well as Flancati (Flantsaatee), Krofee and Krapi.

Here is an excerpt from the preface of the Potica section in the 1953 printing of Woman's Glory, The Kitchen, published by the Slovenian Women's Union of America;

"Insofar as baking goes, potica can be considered primarily Slovenian. Even the name itself was developed from the Slovenian word "povitica" meaning "something rolled in." Other nationalities have kinds of bread that resemble potica, but, in its entirety, the potica is considered a Slovenian specialty. If your potica is made correctly in every respect, you should not hesitate to offer it to your American friends. From my own experiences, I can say that potica has always been well received by all who have tasted its fine flavor. there are several kinds of potica, the most popular of which are raisin, honey, walnut and a few others. It should be emphasized, however, that long beating and kneading is essential in the making of good potica dough, and of no less importance is the filling and baking."

Albina Novak, President-Editor
​
 
Wow, and here I thought I was the only one around that knew anything about Potica!

Yes, the dough takes an incredible amount of work to be right.

And I am a sLOVEnian. Even though with my last name, it appears that somewhere down the line, somebody on my Dad's side came over the mountains between Slovenia and Italy long ago; my last name shows to be of Italian decent. My ma's side is all Slovenian.
 
Well I am all mutt, my wife is half British and half Hungarian but raised by an Egyptian step father.
So, everything sounds good to me LOL!
 
waybomb said:
Wow, and here I thought I was the only one around that knew anything about Potica!

Yes, the dough takes an incredible amount of work to be right.

And I am a sLOVEnian. Even though with my last name, it appears that somewhere down the line, somebody on my Dad's side came over the mountains between Slovenia and Italy long ago; my last name shows to be of Italian decent. My ma's side is all Slovenian.
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My father's side is 100% Slovenian (Valencic) and my mother's family is 100% Croatian (Sokach). They fought like cats and dogs, but stayed together because they were to cheap to pay an attorney to get divorced. I could swear in three languages before I could put together an intelligent sentence. My paternal grandfather spoke fluent Italian because he came from a border town, Trieste. Lovers, fighters, drunks and rabble-rousers, but they could damn sure cook. I can still smell the fat cracklings (ocvirki) in my grandfather's collander in his root cellar. We used to steal them by the handful and sneak out through the basement window and eat them in the alley. My grandmother would also put them in certain pastries she made at special holidays.

Here is an interesting website describing the cuisine of Slovenia, past and present.
 
My dad was Slovenian and my mom is Polish as was my grandmother. My grandfather was born in Poland. My grandmother is the one who made the potica in our family. She either made the nut filling or poppy seed. It's the same as PieSusan's makosh.

Hey JoeV, my dh is Croatian.

Barb
 
homecook said:
My dad was Slovenian and my mom is Polish as was my grandmother. My grandfather was born in Poland. My grandmother is the one who made the potica in our family. She either made the nut filling or poppy seed. It's the same as PieSusan's makosh.

Hey JoeV, my dh is Croatian.

Barb
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I love the poppy seed potica. My twin brother is the potica maker in the family, I make the bread and our youngest brother makes cheese cakes (3 blue ribbons at the Lake County Fair, and don't think those old ladies weren't pissed when he did that!).

I have our mother's potica recipe on my website (check the signature block) if anyone is interested in trying it. Whatever you do, don't cheap out on the filling. If you can't afford to make it the right way, it's a travesty to desecrate the dough with too little filling. Go buy some crap at the grocery store for 2X the price and half the flavor. (did I say that well?:wink:)
 
My wife is from Poland and makes the poppyseed variety too!

So now my kid has a dad that's Slovenian and a mother who's Polish. Sound familiar Barb?
 
See, I told you that all the Eastern Europeans make pretty much the same things but they call them different things or there are slight variations. I think it is so awesome and I love that we have these desserts in common. I am Russian and Hungarian. It boggles my mind that they cannot get along because they pretty much share the same or similar diet.
 
That may be true Mav but if you know your world history, you will understand what I mean.

I would think that the similar cuisines and customs would bring people together but Nationalism can raise its head and one side says they are better than the other. My makosh is better than your poppyseed potica or my strudel is better than your strudel. Rubbish! Then, they argue about which is the originator of the dessert or dish--feh! Instead of reveling in the similarities and saying it is all good, people fight.
 
PieSusan said:
That may be true Mav but if you know your world history, you will understand what I mean.

I would think that the similar cuisines and customs would bring people together but Nationalism can raise its head and one side says they are better than the other. My makosh is better than your poppyseed potica or my strudel is better than your strudel. Rubbish! Then, they argue about which is the originator of the dessert or dish--feh! Instead of reveling in the similarities and saying it is all good, people fight.
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Oh yea, I know what you mean!!
 
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