No Nut Roll, No Easter!

In my house it’s called “nut roll,” which is equivalent to “nut bread.” In Croatia it’s called “povitica.” The Slovenians call it “potica.” No matter what you call it, the famous dessert roll with walnuts spread inside is a traditional Christmas and Easter food. The dessert is a tradition for many European countries, which is why it is still popular in the U.S., as many Americans come from similar European cultural backgrounds. While every country has its own recipe, the walnuts have become a classic.

Below you’ll find my family’s recipe for these sweet, addicting nut rolls, er, povitica, as my ancestors would say!

Ingredients

Bread:

• 8 cups of flour
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 cup of sugar
• 4 sticks of margarine/oleo at room temp.
• 4 eggs well beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup water
• 2 packets of dry yeast

Walnut filling:

• 7-8 cups of ground walnuts
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 eggs well beaten
• 1 cup milk
• 1 stick margarine

Before You Start

Yields 8 rolls. Time: TBD. This is usually an all-day project, but very well worth the time and energy!

First, the Bread!

1. In a large bowl, put in the flour. Make a well, or hole, in the flour.

2. Put salt and sugar in the well.
3. In medium sauce pan, put in margarine, milk, and water. Heat until the mixture is hot enough to melt yeast. The butter should be soft enough to squeeze by hand. Remove from heat.

4. Add beaten eggs to pan with the mixture. Stir.
5. Take 1/2 cup of mixture and put in separate bowl. Add yeast to this mixture and stir it until it dissolves completely.
6. Put this yeast mixture in the well with the salt and sugar. Start mixing.
7. Little by little, add the rest of the milk, water, and margarine mixture from the saucepan.
8. Mix dough until it’s sticky some lumps.
9. Add 1-2 cups of flour as necessary to make dough firmer.
10. Take dough out of the bowl and grease the bowl. Then put the dough back in.
11. Cover the top of the bowl with an old towel or sheet. Put the bowl someplace very warm. You can crank up your furnace or set the bowl on a space heater, with supervision.

12. Put down a cloth and place 8 balls of dough on the cloth.
13. Cover the dough and let it rise again for a few minutes.
14. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and whip up your walnut filling.

Walnut Filling

1. Boil milk and margarine similar to the way you did for the bread.
2. In a separate bowl, mix ground walnuts, sugar, vanilla, and beaten eggs. Mix well.
3. Add milk mixture a little at a time to the bowl.
4. Mix until it’s smooth enough to spread.

Time to Roll!

1. Roll out one ball of dough at a time with a rolling pin.
2. Spread nuts over dough. Try not to make it too full.

3. Roll dough like a jelly roll. Try to make the seam on the bottom.
4. Put roll on baking sheet. Brush with an egg/milk mixture. Prick the top of the roll the whole way across with a fork.
5. Bake for approx. 30 minutes until golden brown.
6. Let rolls cool. To store, wrap in foil and freeze.

It’s quite normal for the nuts to gush out while they’re baking. Don’t panic!

There’s still time before Easter. Start baking now!

Join the Discussion!

What memories does nut roll bring back for you? Have you ever made it before?