Potica (Slovenian Walnut Bread)

King Arthur suggested I try one of the Extraordinary Breads - so I made potica!

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 4 tablespoons (57g) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup (170g) milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
• 3 cups (361g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
• 1/2 cup (46g) dried potato flakes
• 1 teaspoon (6g) salt

Filling:

• 4 cups walnut, chopped walnuts (or pecans)
• 3/4 cup (149g) sugar
• 2 tablespoons (15g) All-Purpose Flour (I used 4 Tablespoons - my filling looked too runny)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 3 large eggs
• 1/4 cup (57g) milk
• 1/4 cup (78g) maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons grated orange rind (zest) - optional (I did not use)
• optional - 4 tablespoons cocoa powder (I added this)
  
• optional - 120 grams chocolate bars cut into small bits (I added this)

Instructions:

1. Put the dough ingredients in your bread machine in the order it recommends
   (I put the wet ingredients in first, sprinkle in the yeast, then the dry ingredients.)
2. Let the bread machine mix and proof your dough
3. Optional - refrigerate dough for 1 hr. (I skipped this step)
4. Put the dry filling ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, process in short bursts.
   (I put in half the nuts, processed in short bursts, added rest of the nuts, processed. Then added the rest of the dry ingredients.)
5. Add the wet filling ingredients, process in bursts.
   (I thought it should be about as thick as Nutella - so I added 2 extra tablespoons flour and processed it in.)
6. Spray the wells of a 4 chamber lasagna pan with cookie spray. (I used my Baker's Edge Simple Lasagna pan which is 11.5" x 12.5".  To make in loaves, use two 8.5 x 4.5 bread pans)
7. Divide dough in half. (You will roll and fill each dough piece, and then cut each piece in half to make four pieces.)
   
8. Mist your work surface with cooking spray.
9. Pat out the first dough piece into a rough rectangle. Roll it out until is is about a 12 x 18" rectangle. (This will be be maybe 1/8" thick)
10. Divide filling into two portions. Drop spoonfuls of one portion the filling over the dough, then spread with a spatula leaving 1/2 inch of the dough clear of filling on both the top and the bottom edge unfilled.
11. Sprinkle the dough with the chocolate pieces if using.
    
12. Slice the dough in half along the long axis.
    
13. Roll up one filled section like a jelly roll along the long edge, pinching to seal the ends and the final seam.
    
    
    
    
    
14. Bring two ends together, and twist the loop of dough a couple of times.
    
15. Place in one of the channels of the lasagna pan, pressing lightly to even out the dough.
16. Repeat this process to make four filled channels.
    
    
    
    
    
    
17. Mist the dough lightly with cookie spray, cover with plastic wrap,
18. Let the dough rise in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour until it looks about  doubled.
19. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven for 15 minutes.
20. Mix 2 tablespoons of milk, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon or so of cinnamon.
21. Brush milk mix over the dough. (Reserve the extra milk if any)
22. Bake the loaves for about 30 minutes.
23. The breads are done when the centers read 190°F when measured with a digital thermometer.
    (I brushed the dough with the leftover milk mix, and broiled them for about 2 minutes to give them a bit more color. WATCH CAREFULLY!)
24. Remove pan from the oven and let cool on a rack for 20 minutes before tipping out of the pans and returning to the rack to finish cooling completely.

Carole's Notes:

We liked this! It was quite tasty, and lightly sweet. With this version, there is a very light chocolate flavor.

The recipe is lightly adapted from https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/potica-recipe