Potica of Our Roots

Even today, Slovenians can hardly imagine Easter and other major holidays without potica. For an authentic experience, try this potica with walnut and cottage cheese fillings, enhanced with dried pears and honey, developed by Žito in collaboration with Uroš Štefelin. You can buy this Easter treat in stores or roll up your sleeves, fire up the kitchen, and prepare this delicious potica yourself.

Details

  • Preparation Time: 120 minutes
  • Cooking Time: 60 minutes
  • Difficulty: 3
  • Spiciness: 0
  • Number of Servings: 12

Ingredients

Caramel

  • 50 g Sugar, white

  • 50 g Sweet cream

Dough

  • 800 g Wheat flour, white, multi-purpose

  • 200 g Flour, buckwheat

  • 10 pieces Egg, egg yolk, fresh

  • 3 teaspoons Salt, table

  • 4 dl Milk, whole milk

  • 1 pod Vanilla, extract, natural

  • 1 dl Oil, vegetable oil, canola

  • 70 g Sugar, white

Nut filling with pears

  • 500 g Walnuts

  • 2 dl Milk, whole milk

  • 1 pod Vanilla, extract, natural

  • 150 g Sugar, white

  • pieces Lemon zest, fresh

  • 3 pieces Egg, egg white, fresh

  • 3 pieces Egg, egg yolk, fresh

  • 100 g Butter, unsalted

  • 200 g Pear, dried croutons

  • 250 g Pear, fresh

Skutni nadev s hruškami

  • 500 g Cheese, cottage cheese

  • 100 g Sugar, white

  • 50 g Honey

  • 3 pieces Egg, egg yolk, fresh

  • 3 pieces Egg, egg white, fresh

  • 100 g Butter, unsalted

  • 400 g Pear, dried croutons

Yeast

  • 2 piece Yeast, dry

  • 0.5 dl Water

  • 0.5 dl Milk, whole milk

Steps

  1. Crumble the yeast into a cup, pour in 0.5 dl of lukewarm milk and water, and place in a warm spot. Bring the remaining milk to a boil with a split vanilla pod, then let the vanilla milk cool.

  2. Sift both types of flour into a large bowl. Add salt, sugar, lemon zest, egg yolks, and oil. Pour in the cooled vanilla milk (remove the vanilla pod) and the risen yeast. Mix the ingredients into a medium-thick dough. Knead the dough until it becomes elastic inside and smooth on the surface. Cover the kneaded dough with a cloth and let it rise until it doubles in size.

  3. While the dough is rising, prepare both fillings. For the walnut filling, boil milk with a split vanilla pod, then let it cool. Peel fresh pears and cook the dried ones. Boil them in water for about an hour until soft. You can add a bit of cinnamon or a few cloves to the water if desired. Beat the egg whites into stiff peaks. In a bowl, mix walnuts, sugar, and lemon zest. Then add egg yolks, melted butter, and vanilla milk. Mix the ingredients well, then gently fold in the egg whites. Prepare the caramel glaze. Heat sugar until it caramelizes, then pour in sweet cream and stir until you achieve the desired consistency - a smooth, spreadable caramel.

  4. For the cottage cheese filling, mix cottage cheese, sugar, honey, egg yolks, and butter. Beat the egg whites into stiff peaks and gently fold them into the cottage cheese mixture. Cook the dried pears and cut them into cubes.

  5. Grease the baking pan with butter and dust it with flour. On a lightly floured surface, knead the risen dough and roll it out to a size of 60 x 60 cm. Spread half of the dough with caramel, top it with the walnut filling, and sprinkle with dried and fresh pears. Spread the other half with the cottage cheese filling and sprinkle with pears. Roll the potica tightly from both sides towards the center and place it in the prepared baking pan. If it's too long, cut it in half and place both pieces side by side in the pan. Prick the potica in several places with a skewer and let it rise. Towards the end, brush it thinly with beaten egg.

  6. Bake the potica for 15 minutes at 200°C, then for 45 minutes at 175°C. Let the baked potica cool in the pan.

  7. After two hours, remove the potica from the pan, flip it over, and let it stand for another two hours before slicing and serving.

Nutrition Information (Per 100g)

  • Calories: 332.96 kcal
  • Fat: 14.7 g
    • Saturated Fat: 3.28 g
  • Carbohydrates: 41.45 g
    • Sugars: 16.62 g
  • Protein: 9.08 g
  • Fiber: 3.08 g