I’ve been looking for a technical loaf to make to try out my breadmaking skills. This loaf, Croatian Povitica, which is typically filled with a walnut and cinnamon filling, seemed to fit the bill perfectly. It is a sweet dough, rather like a yeast-leavened cake in its ingredients (plain flour and yeast amongst others).
The exterior looks rather unassuming but inside it is filled with swirls and loops, and the flavour is to die for.
See what I mean? This was filled with an apple and cinnamon filling, as I am not keen on walnuts. The sweet, buttery apple and cinnamon filling was amazing. My children loved this too. If only I could make it all the time!
Having made one loaf, I was compelled to make some more. The first time, I made one loaf on its own. This was not enough!
The second time, I made two loaves at the same time, dividing the dough before proving. This was better! I tried two different flavours for the second batch: blackberry cream cheese and chocolate orange.
Povitica Recipe
I found the basic Croatian povitica recipe on The Gingered Whisk (note that the page is no longer available in 2019).
A group called the Daring Bakers made it as one of their challenges 3 years ago. If it was good enough for the Daring Bakers, it was good enough for me! I adapted the recipe slightly to fit what I had available.
The apple and cinnamon filling is adapted from here. The other two fillings were just devised from ingredients I had in my fridge and cupboards.
Here are the blackberry cream cheese and chocolate orange flavours. A delicious treat, just a slice served with a cup of coffee or tea tastes amazing.
GBBO note: I have just discovered that they are making this very bake Povitica on GBBO tonight (Advanced Dough week), what a coincidence!
May I point out I made the first loaf last Saturday and the others last night (Tuesday) before the show. 😉
Find out how to make this below, I have included step by step instructions and process photos.
Ingredients are in the recipe card.
How to Make Croatian Povitica
All the steps are laid out below, follow through each of them.
It is quite a complex recipe!
Making the Dough
- Put the ingredients to activate the yeast listed above in a small bowl, cover it and leave for 5 minutes. Bubbles should form.
- Heat the milk in a jug in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes until very hot but not boiling. Leave it to cool for a few minutes.
- Take a large bowl, and add the cooled milk, sugar and salt. Mix them together until dissolved.
- Next add the two beaten eggs, the yeast and water etc from step one, the melted butter, and about a quarter of the flour.
- Mix the ingredients together well, and slowly mix in the rest of the flour. The dough should start coming away from the sides of the bowl.
- Place the dough on your floured worktop, and knead it. Add a little flour bit by bit, until the dough is no longer sticky.
- Knead it until smooth and elastic.
- Split the dough until two equal parts. I weighed mine to ensure they were the same size.
- Place each one in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and place in a warm place to rise for 1.5 hours. It should double in size.
Rolling Out
1.Spread a clean tea/dish towel on your work surface and sprinkle it with a little flour to stop the dough sticking to it.
2. Take the dough from one bowl. Put it down on the tea towel and roll it out with a rolling pin. I made mine the size of my large tea towel.
3. At this point you can spoon on some melted butter if needed, or just stretch by hand without the butter until the dough is thin and opaque.
Add Fillings
1. Spoon your chosen filling (3 options given above) over the dough until evenly covered. Get it as close to the long edge as possible.
2. Lift the edge of the tea towel and roll the dough a bit like a Swiss roll. If it sticks, gently pull it off the tea towel.
3. Take the long roll of dough and put it in your oiled loaf tin in a U shape, with the ends coiling in on itself.
4. Repeat all the steps above from Rolling Out for the 2nd loaf using the dough from the other bowl, with your chosen filling.
Baking
1.Brush the loaf with a little milk, then bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees, then turn down to 150 degrees and bake for a further 45 minutes.
2. If the loaf goes too brown, cover the top with some foil. Make sure the dough is fully cooked before removing it, so you don’t have the same problem with raw dough as the GBBO bakers today! To check this, tap the bottom of the loaf, it should sound hollow. You can also test with a food thermometer like a (affiliate link) Thermapen.
3. Allow the loaf to cool in the loaf tin.
4. When cutting, turn it upside down to prevent it falling apart.
5. When sliced, you should reveal the pretty swirling patterns as seen on GBBO!
More bread recipes to try
If this advanced bread recipe has got you wanting more, try another of my bread recipes with plaiting and twisting galore:
Recipe
Croatian Povitica
Ingredients
To activate the yeast
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 0.5 tsp plain flour
- 60 ml water lukewarm
- 1 sachet yeast
For the dough
- 240 ml milk I used semi-skimmed
- 85 g caster sugar
- 1 tsp salt I used coarse salt
- 2 medium eggs
- 60 g unsalted butter melted
- 560 g plain flour
Fillings:
Apple cinnamon filling
- 90 g butter
- 3 apples peeled and finely diced
- 65 g light brown sugar
- 3 tbsp cinnamon
Blackberry Cream Cheese Filling
- 280 g Philadelphia cream cheese use two thirds of the tub
- 5 tsp caster sugar
- 5 tbsp blackberry jam
Chocolate Orange Filling
- 200 g chocolate spread half a jar
- 1 tsp orange extract
Instructions
Fillings
Apple and Cinnamon Filling
- Put the butter, apples, light brown sugar and cinnamon in a small saucepan.90 g butter, 3 apples, 65 g light brown sugar, 3 tbsp cinnamon
- Cook on a low to medium heat, until the apples are soft, which will take 5-10 minutes.
Blackberry Cream Cheese Filling
- Mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl until soft.280 g Philadelphia cream cheese, 5 tsp caster sugar, 5 tbsp blackberry jam
Chocolate Orange Filling
- Put the chocolate spread in a bowl, add the orange extract and mix well until soft.200 g chocolate spread, 1 tsp orange extract
Making the Dough
- Put the ingredients to activate the yeast listed above in a small bowl, cover it and leave for 5 minutes. Bubbles should form.1 tsp caster sugar, 0.5 tsp plain flour, 60 ml water, 1 sachet yeast
- Heat the milk in a jug in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes until very hot but not boiling. Leave it to cool for a few minutes.240 ml milk
- Take a large bowl, and add the cooled milk, sugar and salt. Mix them together until dissolved.85 g caster sugar, 1 tsp salt
- Next add the two beaten eggs, the yeast and water etc from step one, the melted butter, and about a quarter of the flour.2 medium eggs, 60 g unsalted butter, 560 g plain flour
- Mix the ingredients together well, and slowly mix in the rest of the flour. The dough should start coming away from the sides of the bowl.
- Place the dough on your floured worktop, and knead it. Add a little flour bit by bit, until the dough is no longer sticky.
- Knead it until smooth and elastic.
- Split the dough until two equal parts. I weighed mine to ensure they were the same size.
- Place each one in an oiled bowl, cover with a tea towel and place in a warm place to rise for 1.5 hours. It should double in size.
Rolling Out
- Spread a clean tea/dish towel on your work surface and sprinkle it with a little flour to stop the dough sticking to it.
- Split the dough in half. Leave one half in the bowl. Put the other half of the dough down and roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. I made mine the size of my large tea towel.
- At this point you can spoon on some melted butter if needed, or just stretch by hand without the butter until the dough is thin and opaque.
Add Fillings and Roll
- Take one of the fillings you made previously (3 options are given above or use your own combination).
- Spoon your chosen filling over the dough until evenly covered. Get it as close to the long edge as possible.
- Lift the edge of the tea towel and roll the dough a bit like a Swiss roll along the long edge. If it sticks, gently pull it off the tea towel.
- Take the long roll of dough and put it in your oiled loaf tin in a U shape, with the ends coiling in on itself.
- Repeat all the steps above for the 2nd loaf using the other half of the dough from the second bowl, with your chosen filling.
Baking
- Brush the loaf (bake them separately as they are ready, and add the second one when prepared, keeping a note of the times) with a little milk, then bake for 15 minutes at 180 degrees, then turn down to 150 degrees and bake for a further 45 minutes.
- If the loaf goes too brown during baking, cover the top with some foil. Make sure the dough is fully cooked before removing it from the oven. To check, tap the bottom of the loaf, it should sound hollow. Or check with a food thermometer like a Thermapen.
- Allow the loaves to cool in the loaf tins.
- When cutting the bread, turn it upside down to prevent it falling apart.
- When sliced, you should reveal pretty swirling patterns inside your bread.
Helen at Casa Costello says
I just keep on staring at these – You are so talented. They are magnificent. Congratulations on being the featured bake on #Bakeoftheweek x
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Helen, you are so kind. Thanks so much for feauturing my Povitica on #Bakeoftheweek. x
Jen @ Blue Kitchen Bakes says
Wow! They both look really good. I had never heard of this loaf before seeing it on GBBO but it’s certainly near the top of my to bake list when I get a chance. Love the sound of the blackberry filling.
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks for visiting Jen! It wasn’t that easy to start with but very moreish indeed! The blackberry was tasty and good since it was rather seasonal.
Jenny Paulin says
wow i love the flavour combinations you have used here! i would be hard pushed to pick a favourite! your swirls look amazing too
thank you for linking up xx
Lucy @SupergoldenBakes says
I had the recipe for povitica pinned on Pinterest for at least two years and kept meaning to make it… so I found it very funny when it cropped up on GBBO. Clearly Chetna is a good researcher!
I am so impressed with your bake – when all’s said and done it is quite a faffy recipe! Thanks for linking to #CookBlogShare and remember to link it to #GBBO BakeAlong as well : )
http://www.supergoldenbakes.com/2014/09/quick-and-easy-danish-pastries.html
Hayley @ Hay In A Day says
I’d never heard of this bread until the bake off. I really want to try it now- it looks so tasty. Yours looks perfectly baked- unlike the ones from the bakers on the bake off- all theirs seemed to be raw! #bakeoftheweek
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Hayley – luckily I had the benefit of a recipe with the cooking time on it unlike the poor bakers on the TV (except Chetna of course)!
Kirsty Hijacked By Twins says
Oooh this looks lovely 🙂 I am trying one of these too, my dough is proving at the moment 🙂 yours looks and sounds delicious x #CookBlogShare
Eileen Teo says
Omg! That is amazing! I saw this at great British bake off and wanted to learn it! Thanks for the recipe! #bakeoftheweek
HELEN says
wow that looks great!
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Helen, thanks for stopping by!