Potica (traditional Slovenian Holiday Cake) Pt 1

-DOUGH-
5 c Flour; (4 cups to start,
-adding additional flour as
-needed)
1 1/4 c Warm milk
1/2 c Softened butter or margarine
3 Egg yolks
1/2 c Sugar
2 tb Dark rum; (or vanilla)
1 Grated peel of lemon
1 pn Salt

FILLING
6 c Finely ground walnuts;
-(approx. 1-1/2 to 1-3/4
-lb.)
1 c Finely ground golden raisins
1/2 c White sugar
1/2 c Brown sugar
2 tb Dry bread crumbs
1/2 ts Cinnamon
1/2 ts Ground cloves
1/2 c Honey
3/4 c Thick cream; (or 1/2 and
-1/2)
1/2 c Butter; (or margarine)
3 Egg whites; beaten stiff

Yeast: Sprinkle sugar over yeast and add warm water. Let it stand until
twice its original volume. Dough: Mix softened butter, sugar and egg yolks
until the sugar is well dissolved and mixture is frothy. Set aside. Warm up
the milk, mix in salt, lemon peel, and rum, and add to the butter mixture.
Form the dough out of the 4 cups of flour, yeast, and milk mixtures. The
trick is not to pour in all the milk mixture immediately; use about 3/4 to
start with, then add more as the dough forms. Beat with electric mixer
until smooth and elastic. Then keep adding flour as needed, and mixing with
a wooden spoon until of consistency that dough can be handled without
sticking. Place dough on floured board and knead for about 15 minutes,
adding flour as needed to make a non-sticking dough. Place dough in a
well-greased bowl; turn dough upside down to grease top. Cover and let rise
in warm place for about 1-1/2 to 2 hours until double in bulk. While dough
is rising, prepare filling. Filling: Mix walnuts and raisins, and grind
them together to keep raisins from clumping. Combine all dry ingredients.
Warm the cream and honey, and melt the butter in this mixture. Add cream
mixture to dry ingredients and mix completely. Fold in beaten egg whites
last. Let filling cool as you roll out dough. Assembly: Roll out dough on
table covered with a tablecloth well sprinkled with flour. Roll out to 1/4″
thick, 18″ x 24″ or bigger. Spread cooled filling over entire dough evenly.
Start rolling up dough by hand, jelly roll fashion, stretching dough
slightly with each roll. Start at an 18″ edge and roll in the 24″
direction. Keep side edges as even as possible. Continue to roll by raising
the cloth edge slowly with both hands so the dough rolls itself. Dust away
any excess flour on the outside of the dough with a pastry brush as you
roll. Prick roll with a toothpick as needed to eliminate air pockets. With
the edge of a spatula (pancake flipper) cut off each end of roll to make it
the length needed to fit around the inside of an angel food cake pan. Place
in well-greased angel food cake pan or Bundt cake pan, being sure to
arrange the seam where the roll ended against the center. If you have a
two-piece angel food cake pan, it is easiest to roll the loaf onto and
around the bottom plate of the pan, and then lower this into the body of
the pan. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until double in
volume. Bake about 1 hour at 325 degrees. Put cut-off ends in greased loaf
pans, cover with cloth and let rise in a warm place until double in volume,
then bake for 30 to 35 minutes at 325 degrees. For a shiny crust, brush top
before baking with 1 egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon milk, OR brush top with
melted butter when taken from oven. Let stand one hour before removing from
pan. Loosen sides and bottom with knife. Turn onto wire rack to remove,
then turn over again onto another wire rack to cool right-side up. Once
completely cool, turn upside-down on a cake plate and sprinkle with
powdered sugar.

Potica (paw tee’ tzah) is a traditional Slovenian holiday cake. Variations
of it are also common in several other Eastern European countries. When my
Polish house cleaner saw it on the counter, she said, ‘Oh. Christmas Cake!’
Some of my fondest childhood memories are of being at my grandmother’s
house and helping with the potica, and then enduring the smell for hours
before it was done and cool enough to eat. My grandmother came over from
the old country when she was twenty, and lived in a Slovenian neighborhood
in my hometown, and could she make a