Povitica Bread

I was glancing through the latest Wolferman's catalog this morning and saw something that I had never head of before.  It is called Povitica bread and is a Croatian speciality.  It looks just wonderful and I would love to try making the one with the cream cheese  filling.
 
Has anyone ever made this and have a recipe for it?  I would  love a recipe that someone  has tried before.

Wow, that does look amazing! (It didn't get the best reviews though)
http://www.wolfermans.com...gifts-under-20_5005707



I have no experience making this myself but apparently this is a good recipe and replicates the above fairly well:

Cover 2 ounces of yeast with warm water, add 1 tsp. of sugar, and set in warm place.
Put 2 pieces of margarine or 1 butter and 1 margarine (about 1/4 cup) into a bowl.
To butter add yolks of 8 eggs, separating whites in another bowl.
Add 1 pint of sour cream to this mixture.
Add 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 cup sugar. Mix everything well.
Add the yeast mixture and continue to mix.

Start to add flour a little at a time, mixing thoroughly.
When thick, start to knead. Add flour to a board. (or marble, etc.)
Turn dough out on board and knead dough, turning at all angles until dough no longer sticks on the board.
Test by imprinting with finger. When indentation springs back it is ready. Place dough in bowl to rise. Let rise about 2 1/2 times in bulk.

Filling:
Grind 6 heaping cups of walnuts. Beat egg whites stiff; add 2 cups sugar slowly to whites. This will be glossy and stiff; should stand up in high peaks when tested. Clean beaters by holding above egg whites and beating slowly.
Fold in nuts, 1 cup at a time. Fold in 1 tsp. vanilla; fold mixture well.

Punch down dough; cut into 5 balls. Return 4 balls to bowl, using flour between each ball to keep them separate. Take the other ball and roll out to 14 x 14 inches on floured board.
Spread filling over the dough. Take one edge and roll gently as in a jelly roll. Coat cookie sheet with Pam. Pinch the edges of roll and set on sheet. Continue until all rolls are made. Keep the rolls covered with a towel and out of drafts.

Let rise 1/2 to 1 hour. Bake 25 to 30 minutes at 350 F. until golden brown. You will probably need 2 cookie sheets to fit all.

The above doesn't have the cream cheese filling but you could just add that yourself.

Thank you for the response.  I am sure that any bread ordered via mail is not going to be that wonderful.  Any bread, to be really good, has to be freshly purchased or homemade.  That is why  I would love a good recipe for this.

I would like a recipe with the cream cheese filling and not the nut filling.  They are two diferent fillings.  I also saw, when looking online,  that many companies sell this bread and that they offer many kinds of fillingw, which I found most interesting.

How about this one?

2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. Salt
1 T. sugar
1/3 c. warm water
1/4 c. melted butter
1 beaten egg
1 (8 oz.) cream cheese
1 lb. Cottage cheese
2 T. melted butter
4 T. sugar
1 beaten egg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Dough: Mix flour, salt, and sugar. Add warm water, melted butter and egg. Mix until blended, knead on floured surface until soft butter consistency. Let rest 30 minutes.

Filling: Combine cream cheese and cottage cheese. Add beaten egg and butter. Roll out dough 1/4 inch thick. Spread 2 Tbs. melted butter on dough. Spread cheese mixture evenly on dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Roll dough up jellyroll style, starting with largest end. Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.

Try Strawberry Hill out of Kansas City (coincidentally, the original home of Wolferman's before Harry and David bought them out).  Their specialty is povetica and I promise it is waaaaay better than anything shown on the Wolferman's site.  English Walnut is their signature flavor and with good reason.  Excellent, nutty flavor in a dense, moist bread that is perfect with your first cup of coffee or tea in the morning.

Mrs. Roadhouse and I go down to KC (her hometown) every Christmas and we make a point of picking up a povitica or two to take home.  They travel well, and I'm sure ordering one online would work out as well as us buying it in KC and then driving 550 miles back to Chicago stuffed in the trunk of our car.

Buddy

Greymo, somewhere I have a recipe from my parents' friends for this.
My sister's church in Shawnee  makes it for Christmas(I think they still do)
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/473315
In the meantime while I look for the recipe, here's a couple of intersting post re Croatia and KCK.

Aside:
Wolferman's was our original high end grocery and restaurant  long long ago when I was a wee one.
You've got to get in to get out.
 .
 http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/read/CROATIA/2004-12/1104005110
 

From: "Karen Steely" <katies_kin@earthlink.net>
Subject: RE: [CROATIA-L] MERRY CHRISTMAS - Povitica
Date: Sat, 25 Dec 2004 12:05:10 -0800
In-Reply-To: <20041225123606.54238.qmail@web52704.mail.yahoo.com>

My great-grandmother came from the village of St. Peter in Ogulin, Croatia,
along with her parents and her brothers in about 1910 to Strawberry Hill,
the Croatian community in Kansas City, Kansas. Her name was Magdalena
Margaret Kirasic, and she married my great-grandfather, Michael Matthew
Magdic, who was also from Ogulin, in Kansas City, Kansas in 1914.

She always made povitica for Christmas, but it wasn't until the late 70's
that my mother got the recipe for it. My great-grandmother of course never
used a recipe, so what my mother had to do was follow my great-grandmother
around the kitchen and have my great-grandmother stop before she added each
ingredient so my mother could write it down and measure the quantity. Our
recipe is very close to yours, but with one key difference. My
great-grandmother did not like vanilla, and so she always used whiskey in
her povitica in place of the vanilla.

I have never learned to make it myself, but thank goodness there is still a
bakery on Strawberry Hill that makes povitica and will ship it to you, and
so I can still share povitica with my family here in Seattle.

Karen Steely
email: katies_kin@earthlink.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Robert Jerin [mailto:rjerin26@yahoo.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 25, 2004 4:36 AM
To: [email=CROATIA-L@rootsweb.com]CROATIA-L@rootsweb.com[/email]
Subject: Re: [CROATIA-L] MERRY CHRISTMAS

Dave,

Here is a Orehnaca (aka Povitica) recipe that we like


BREAD
2 pkgs. dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110 to 115)
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp. salt
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
4 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Sift 3 cups of flour into large mixing
bowl. Make a deep well in the center; add milk, sugar, salt, butter and
eggs. Mix until light with mixer. Add dissolved yeast and gradually stir
in enough of the remaining 1 cup flour to make a very soft dough, will
fall apart if picked up. Turn dough onto lightly floured board and
knead lightly. Place in a large greased bowl and lightly butter top of
dough. Cover. Let rise until doubled. Punch down and allow to rise another
time. Make filling.

FILLING
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup milk
1 lb. ground English walnuts
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup honey
2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
2 egg whites, stiffly beaten
1 tbsp. cinnamon
1 tbsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. cocoa, optional

Bring sugar and milk to full boil. Add nuts, butter and honey; mix
well. Cool. Add egg yolks. Fold in stiffly beaten egg whites, cinnamon,
vanilla, and cocoa.

Divide dough in half and place on floured board; roll until very thin
by stretching and rolling. Continue until dough is 1/16 inch thick.
Spread a layer of cooled filling over entire sheet of dough. Start rolling
as for a jelly roll, stretching as you roll. Place in a 5/9 x 5 1/2
inch bread pan and allow to rise. Bake at 325 degrees approximately 55
minutes. Cool in pan at least 10 minutes. Remove and finish cooling on
rack.

Robert

dave mothkovich <davem9759@juno.com> wrote:
I wouldn't mind some recipes for the foods you are all describing, we
have been adding traditions to our Christmas, etc. every year for my now
3 year old to experience. I lost our poviticia recipe that someone sent
last year, because the computer virus that crashed this system took it
too.

Someone mentioned potato soup, my dad loved potato soup and I was never
quite sure why. Was that a popular food? I'm gonna have a long
conversation with him when we meet in heaven -so many questions.

Dave
On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 14:05:09 -0700 William F Kane
writes:
> Hi Margeret, There are two CFU lodges in the Phoenix area. The most
> active people I know in the Croatian Community are Mike and
> Veronica
> Bozicevic, 2165 E. Caroline Lane, Tempe AZ 85284.
> tel. 897-4494. I know they would be delighted to hear from you.
> It is now 3PM here in Tempe on Christmas eve and my wife is in the
> kitchen making. Makovnjaca (poppy seed rolls) and orehnjaca (walnut
> rolls). They will go in the oven in about 15 minutes and I can't
> wait for
> the smell to permeate the house. Oh how I remember my mother in
> law's
> baking but now Sylvia has taken over and hers are every bit as good.
> (she
> still hasn't mastered the strudel, however).
> Bill Kane
>
>
>