Sweet bread and chocolate; is there any better combination? The Slavic dessert of povitica (pronounced poh-va-teets-ah) is a rolled dough with filling, typically walnut, on the inside. I personally could never 100% connect to that much walnut; it’s just not my thing, so experimentally, I opted to try a chocolate filling. and therefore, I have many tips, tricks, and things to avoid about this recipe.

The recipe for the dough comes from my baka (the Croatian word for grandmother), and the recipe for the filling is partially adapted from a New York Times cookbook recipe for babka. Whenever my family makes povitica, it is made in bulk to be distributed to loved ones. Therefore, her recipe is for three loaves. For the sake of ease, however, I have third-ed this recipe to only make one loaf. My very first tip is to have a friend or family member present because there are several instances where it is good to have a friend, and also, I believe there is a certain amount of moral support needed for this recipe. I made my unwilling twin help, which worked well for me. The recipe (with tips interspersed) is as follows:

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 5 cups of flour (4 cups will be used for the dough, while the other cup will be used for other tasks such as rolling out the dough)
• 1 tsp active dry yeast
• ⅓ cup and a pinch of sugar
• ⅔  cup milk
• ⅓ cup butter
• ⅓ cup cool water
• ⅓ tbsp vanilla extract*
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Filling:

• ⅜ cup heavy whipping cream
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• Pinch kosher salt 
• 4 oz butter (room temperature)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 oz bittersweet chocolate (between 66-74% cacao)

Instructions:

1. Add your yeast to ⅓ cup lukewarm water (between 105℉-115℉) and a pinch of sugar. The sugar should feed your yeast as it blooms in the lukewarm water for 10 minutes. It should appear slightly foamy at the top and smell a bit like sourdough.
2. Melt your butter in a saucepan with milk. For this step, I would highly recommend cubing your butter before putting it in the milk to increase the time spent waiting. Add your ⅓ cup sugar, mix thoroughly, and then add ⅓ cup of cool water. Next mix in your vanilla extract. 

It is of note here that I personally did not use vanilla extract anywhere in this recipe, as I unfortunately entered blind and thought that we had vanilla extract in the house (we had just run out the weekend before). Unfortunately, it was also 10pm so I was fearing for the worst. However, the show must go on, and therefore, I substituted all vanilla extract with maple syrup, which was reportedly a 1-1 ratio.

1. Next, put your egg yolks (not full eggs!! No egg whites! If you want to use the egg whites somehow, I would recommend making meringue cookies for something sweet and light) into a bowl and mix in the yeast mixture and then the butter mixture. After this, sift in your 4 cups of flour; it should resemble a slightly wetter version of bread dough. Make sure that you only mix about ¼ increments at a time to avoid too much flour. Finally, mix in the vegetable oil.
2. Your dough should be ready, so let it rise for a while.

I am a historically impatient baker, and I dread long waiting times for dough to rise. Therefore, my best tip is to let the dough rise in the oven (not turned on) with a baking sheet filled with hot water below. This will emit steam, which you will want to keep with the dough. This new humid environment will allow the dough to rise faster, and I was ready to go in about 30 minutes. 

1. While your dough is rising, move on to the filling. In a saucepan, add heavy whipping cream, sugar, and salt. Heat this on medium heat until the sugar is dissolved. Now add the butter, chocolate, and vanilla (or maple syrup). Let this fully combine until smooth; it should resemble a thinner ganache. Now let this sit off the heat until room temperature, where it will become thicker.
2. Preheat the oven to 350℉.
3. Finally, it is time to roll the dough. I put down two fabric kitchen towels on top of a counter, flour them, and then put the dough on top. You will now add flour to the top of your risen dough and a rolling pin. Roll the dough until it is about 3 times longer than it is wide, and then thin it further by pulling it with your fingers. Make sure you use the pads of your fingers to avoid any accidental holes in the dough, as these are difficult to solve.
4. Once you have a relatively thin dough, add the filling on top and spread it to the corners of the dough with minimal margins. I prefer to use an offset spatula here as I find it easier, however, any spatula will do. 
5. Using your hands first, roll the dough until there is a complete roll of the length of the dough (so no margins sticking out where it hasn’t been rolled). Once you have gotten to this point, you should be able to use your kitchen towels to roll the dough by just pulling up on them.
6. Cut the finished roll into three sections and try to shape the bottom of them like a wedge. Layer your sections together in a parchment-covered 7×11-inch loaf pan, with one in the middle having the wedge facing a different direction than the ones on the side. Cover this pan with a loose layer of tin foil on top.
7. Put the pan in the oven with the tin foil cover for 30 minutes, and then take the tin foil off and let it cook for another 20 minutes. Once the top is golden brown and the insides are ready and cooked through, let it sit on the counter to fully cook, and then enjoy!

I hope you enjoy this loaf just as much as my family and friends did! It’s a sweeter take on a traditional recipe, and while it does take a fair amount of time to make, I would argue it’s entirely worth it. This recipe fills the house with a wonderfully warm smell of bread and chocolate (so much so that my mom texted me from upstairs, “Something smells good. What are you making?”). Enjoy!