This is a classic Eastern European Christmas bread with a walnut and chocolate filling that makes an excellent tea bread (it’s pretty good with mulled wine too).
Prep time 120 minutes/Cooking time: 90 minutes/Makes: 1 loaf
Ingredients:
For the dough
300g (2/3 lb) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
40g (1½oz) caster sugar
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
10g (⅓oz) fast-action yeast
30g (1oz) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
½ vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
150ml (3/5 cup) whole milk, warmed
For the filling:
60g (2¼oz) unsalted butter
4 tbsp whole milk
280g (10oz) walnut pieces
½ vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out
100g (3½oz) caster sugar
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 egg yolk, beaten
To assemble:
15g (½oz) butter, melted
1 egg white, beaten
100g (3½oz) icing sugar
Method:
For the dough, combine the flour and sugar in the bowl of a freestanding mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the salt into one side of the bowl and the yeast to the other. Add the melted butter, egg, vanilla seeds and warm milk and begin mixing on a slow speed. When the dough starts to come together, mix for a further 5-8 minutes on a medium speed until the dough is soft, smooth and stretchy.
Turn the dough into a lightly oiled mixing bowl, cover with cling film and set aside to rise for about an hour, or until at least doubled volume. In the meantime, butter a 1kg (2lb) loaf tin.
For the filling, combine the butter and milk in a small pan and heat gently until the butter has melted. Take off the heat and set aside.
Mow combine the walnuts, vanilla seeds, sugar and cocoa powder into the bowl of a food processor and blend to a sandy powder. Add the egg yolk, milk and butter mixture and pulse to combine. Set aside.
To assemble, spread a clean bed sheet over a kitchen table and dust with flour. Turn the risen dough out onto the sheet and roll out the dough into a large 50x30cm (20x12in) rectangle. Brush the surface with 15g (½oz) melted butter.
Dust your hands with flour and ease them underneath the dough. Using the backs of your hands, stretch the dough out from the centre until very thin and translucent (you should be able to see the sheet through the dough). The rectangle should measure approximately 1mx60cm (40x24in).
Taking care not to tear the dough, spread the filling over the dough until evenly covered. If the filling has been standing for a long time and is too thick, add a little warm milk to loosen it. Starting at the long edge of the dough, lift the sheet and gently roll the dough up tightly, like a Swiss (jelly) roll.
Carefully lift the dough and place one end in the bottom corner of the greased loaf tin. Ease the roll into the base of the tin to form a long ‘U’ shape, then double back laying the roll over the first ‘U’ shape to form a second ‘U’ shape on top.
Place the loaf tin inside a clean plastic bag and leave to rise for one hour.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C (160C fan/350F/Gas Mark 4).
Brush the dough with beaten egg white, place in the centre of your pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 150C (130C fan/300F/Gas Mark 3) and bake for a further 45 minutes, or until golden-brown. Cover with foil if the top begins to darken too much.
Remove from the oven and set aside to cool in the tin for 30 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Mix the icing sugar with a few drops of cold water to make a runny icing and drizzle it over the povitica. Slice and enjoy.
