Potratna potica
Potratna potica is one of the most popular holiday desserts in Slovenia. The name literally means `wasteful cake' and it is not surprising, given its richness- two layers of sponge, walnut filling and farmer's cheese filling, one layer of chocolate sponge, all wrapped in sweet yeast dough. It takes a long time to make, and delights anyone who tries it!
Recipe
Ingredients (for a rectangular 35x24 cm pan):
Sponge Cake (1 layer)
3 eggs
90 g sugar
8 g vanilla sugar
2 tbsp rum
4 tbsp warm water
75 g flour
Chocolate Sponge Cake (1 layer)
3 eggs
90 g sugar
8 g vanilla sugar
2 tbsp rum
4 tbsp warm water
50 g flour
25 g cocoa powder
Yeast Dough
7 g dried yeast
500 g flour
80 g butter
250 ml milk
2 egg yolks
1 egg
zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp rum
1 tsp salt
Walnut Filling
600 g shelled walnuts
90 g honey
60 g sugar
150 ml heavy cream
a pinch of cinnamon
1 egg
2 egg whites
Farmer's Cheese Filling
800 g farmer's cheese
150 g sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1 egg
corn starch (optional)
Instructions:
Sponge Cake (1 layer)
Egg and sugar mixture before adding rum and water.
Put parchment paper to the bottom of the baking pan and spread butter on the sides.
Mix eggs, sugar and vanilla sugar for about 10 minutes until fluffy. Add the rum and water.
Gradually mix in flour.
Pour the mixture into a baking pan and bake at 180 degrees celsius (355o Fahrenheit) for about 12-14 minutes (depending on the oven).
Repeat 1. to get two sponge cake layers.
Chocolate Sponge Cake (1 layer)
The procedure is the same as for the sponge cake in 1. except that cocoa powder is added to the flour and thoroughly mixed before incorporated into the egg mixture.
Yeast Dough
Mix flour and yeast in a large bowl.
Put 250 ml of milk into a saucepan with 80 g butter and 1 tsp of salt and put on heat until butter is dissolved.
Add the zest of 1 lemon, 1 tbsp rum, 1 egg and two egg yolks and mix until the mixture is smooth.
Add the milk mixture to the flour and yeast mixture and mix with a kitchen robot until the dough is smooth.
Let rise for about 45 minutes in a warm place or until it has doubled in size.
Walnut filling
Grind the walnuts in a food processor. Transfer to a large bowl.
In a saucepan combine heavy cream, honey and sugar. Place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then pour over the walnuts in a bowl.
Stir in cinnamon. Add 1 egg yolk and combine to get a smooth filling.
Set aside for the mixture to cool to room temperature.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until you get stiff peaks. Fold the egg whites into the walnut mixture and stir to combine. Divide the mixture into two equal parts.
Farmer's Cheese Filling
Mix all the ingredients together. If using ricotta, add a few tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in water.
Making potratna potica
Take the baking pan in which you baked the sponge cake and butter it. Generously dust your working area with flour. Roll the dough into a rectangle roughly twice and a half the size of the rectangular pan.
Potratna potica requires two layers of sponge, one layer of chocolate sponge and yeast dough.
- Put the yeast dough into the baking pan so that it covers the bottom and the sides. Half of it should be outside the pan.
- Spread half the walnut filling over the yeast dough, then add one sponge cake, one half of farmer's cheese filling, chocolate sponge cake, the second half of farmer's cheese filling, the second sponge cake, the second half of walnut filling, and finally cover with the other half of the yeast dough. Using a brush, gently brush the top with egg yolk.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 170 celsius (340 Fahrenheit) for 45 minutes. Let cool (preferably overnight).
- Slice it lengthwise into 3 logs. Cut slices from each log separately, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve.