A New Twist: Sourdough Potica

The first time I read about sourdough potica, I thought it must be some kind of crazy gimmick. Probably dreamed up by an American who imagined it would be an interesting twist on San Francisco's iconic sourdough bread. And even though I was a regular bread baker, I never had much interest in the sourdough approach.

But then I caught the sourdough bug. It happened by accident, early this year, when my husband gave me a wonderful rye bread cookbook for my birthday. It turned out that half the recipes called for a rye sour starter. So I relented and tried to make my own sourdough starter, using the directions in that book. It worked! That original starter (often called the Mother) became fully active and ready for baking on a fortuitous day in February: the birthday of our first child, which seemed somehow fitting. 

So, after four months of steady sourdough baking, I decided to take another look at that sourdough potica recipe. And I discovered that the source was a successful young baker in Slovenia named Anita Šumer. She has created an ever-expanding Sourdough Mania world that includes an award-winning cookbook, videos, online classes, an online presence--and a generous number of free recipes. Including two recipes for a sourdough version of traditional walnut potica. 

The recipe below follow's Anita Šumer's original one very closely, as you can see if you follow the link. 

I did make a few small changes. The biggest one: I opted to include a small amount of standard commercial yeast, as many sourdough bakers do when they are concerned about getting enough rise. I'll admit it: I was worried about that stiff sweet starter, a special variant that is supposed to be preferred for sweet breads and pastries. It seemed very dense and it barely doubled. So I wasn't taking any chances. 

The other change was in the filling. Since we were low on walnuts, I supplemented with ground almonds--and I added some almond extract. And one final change: Instead of the traditional round potica mold the recipe calls for,  I followed my family's style of long, somewhat flat, free-standing rolls.

The dough was challenging to mix, and it would have been even more difficult if I hadn't taken Anita's suggestion to use my stand mixer. But it was easy to work with, although I seemed to have difficulty dividing the dough and the filling into two even portions :-) 

I didn't know what to expect from this recipe. I considered it an experiment. It was so different from my beloved family potica. Less rich. No honey in the filling. Closer to the bread end of the bread-pastry continuum than the potica i grew up with.

But guess what? We really liked this! The differences were intriguing. The mild sweetness seemed much more in the European spirit. And those thick ribbons of filling were appealing, although I am not sure my mother would have approved. 

Even my brother liked it, when I served sourdough potica for dessert for his after-birthday dinner. I was a little concerned that it might not be sweet enough to be a good birthday cake substitute. But my husband had the perfect solution: Just drizzle the slices with a bit of melted apricot jam and serve with my homemade frozen strawberry yogurt.  

I will definitely make this again! 

Sourdough Potica  

--adapted from Anita Šumer  @sourdough_mania

Sweet stiff starter

10 g active sourdough starter 
40 g all purpose flour 
15 g water
15 g sugar

Mix all ingredients into a stiff dough. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Final dough

Combine the following in bowl of stand mixer, using dough hook:

80 g sweet starter (as above), doubled
450 g all purpose flour.

1 teaspoon yeast (my addition, optional)

Now add the following mixture: 

3 egg yolks
170 g milk
20 g rum
80 g sugar
6 g salt
1 teaspoon lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon

When dough appears "well developed," beat in:

 70 g butter, room temperature 

Form dough into a ball, cover, and let rise for 3 or 4 hours. Dough should rise by about 30 %.

While the final dough is rising, if you have not already mixed the ingredients for the walnut filling, do it now. Add milk until mixture is a smooth, spreadable paste. Cover and let rest for at least 4 hours before using.

Walnut filling (needs to rest at least 4 hours before using)

500 g ground walnuts (I replaced 150 g of walnuts with ground almonds) 
50 g cream 
4 tablespoons of rum
1 egg
3 egg whites
60 g sugar
50 g milk, or as needed

1 teaspoon almond extract (my addition)

Shaping and Baking 

Roll dough about 0.8-1cm thick, spread evenly with filling, and roll tightly.

The original recipe calls for baking the potica in the traditional round potica mold, which resembles a bundt pan. I opted for two long, flat rolls--the style I learned from my mother and grandmother.  

In the original recipe, rising time was reported to be 18 hours. Mine was shorter.  

Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes covered, then lower heat to 350 F and bake until done--an hour, according to the original recipe. My rolls took less time.