Povitica Buns

I was memerised by the Povitica from Wilde in the Kitchen! The swirls from the loaf looked so pretty! I googled for Povitica and found this in Wikipedia: 

"The povitica, a traditional Croatian and Slovenian pastry, is made from buttery pastry dough rolled into very thin layers and covered with a layer of brown sugar, spices, and walnuts."

Doesn't that sounds nice? When I looked at the recipe, the ingredients looked very similar for cinnamon rolls too! I don't mind having cinnamon rolls everyday! However, what I did differently was that I didn't baked it as a loaf, even though I would like to. I divided the dough and baked them separately as buns to giveaway.

The buns turned out to be soft and delicious. The ground walnuts dominated the paste. It will be better if more cinnamon powder or chocolate powder were added to enhance the flavour. The sweetness was just right for me. The paste really compliment the softness of the bread well. I will definitely try this again... Next time, I'll bake them in loaves as I would love to see the swirls they create!

Recipe for Povitica, modified slightly from Wilde in the Kitchen.
(Makes 20 buns or 2 loaves)


Ingredients:
(A)
1 tsp Fine sugar
1/2 tsp Plain flour
4 tsp warm water 
3 tsp Instant yeast

(B)
256g Whole milk
88g Fine sugar
1 1/2 tsp Fine salt
2 Eggs, large
30g Unsalted butter, melted
287g Bread flour
275g Plain flour

(C)
250g Walnuts, measure first, then grind in a food processor
70g Whole milk
80g Unsalted butter, melted
2 Egg yolks
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract
120g Fine sugar
1/2 tsp Cocoa powder
1/2 tsp Cinnamon powder

Method:

1. In a small bowl, mix together the (A) ingredients and allow to sit at room temperature for at least 5 minutes. Make sure that your mixture is frothy.
2. In a small saucepan, heat milk to 80C, remove from the heat and allow to cool to 43C. (I didn't use a thermometer, I just go by the feel.)
3. In a large bowl, mix warm milk from #2 above, sugar and salt from (B) until dissolved.
4. Add egg, yeast mixture, melted butter and 1/2 cup flour.
5. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, until the dough comes together. Use a k-beater to do the mixing.
6. Switch to the dough hook, and knead until smooth.
7. Coat a bowl with cooking oil and add dough, roll the dough around to coat in oil.
8. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to rise for an hour, or until doubled in size.
9. Just before the dough is doubled, grind the walnuts from (C) in a food processor and add the remaining ingredients.
10. Mix all the ingredients from C together. You'll get a thick but spreadable mixture.
11. Spread flour on your worktop. Add the bread dough, and divide into two portions. Let it rest for 10mins.
12. On a floured surface, roll out the dough thinly into a rectangular shape.
13. Add the prepared topping and spread it thoroughly to cover the entire dough.
14. Then gently lift up the dough and rolled it tightly towards you.
15. Fold it in half and twist it. Then cut it evenly and place it in paper cup. (This step can be very messy. Might become difficult to manage. Skip the twist and just cut it and place it in a paper cup.)
16. Do the same for the other dough.
17. Let it proof for another 45mins.
18. Brush them with milk.
19. Bake it in a preheat oven at 180C for 14mins. (If baking loaves, bake it for 15mins at 180C, then continue baking at 150C for 30-45mins. Cover the bread with foil after 30mins to prevent being burnt.)

Don't ask me how I got those patterns. They were the result of the messy twists and turns!