Potica

Potica is a Slovenian term meaning rolled-up. In this case, the yeasted dough is rolled-up with a citrus-maple-nut filling, making for an incredibly flavorful and gently sweet bread. I enjoyed slices of it with my morning coffee. It would also make some amazing French toast. 

Creating the interior double swirl effect is easier than it looks. The Potica dough is rolled until very thin – similar to the Scaccia if you've been following along – spread with the filling, rolled up into a log, then simply folded in half and placed into a loaf pan.

I followed the King Arthur Baking Potica recipe using a combination of pecans and walnuts for my filling, about 70/30. (Using all walnuts is more traditional.) Almonds would also lend a nice addition though they may make your filling lighter in color. The "optional" orange zest adds another dimension, and I enjoyed it, but I recommend a light hand with it. Orange definitely has the potential to overwhelm the nutty flavor as evidenced by some of the comments below the recipe.

Photos by Daniel Marks

Potica Recipe:

On King Arthur Baking: https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/potica-recipe

Difficulty:
Moderate, rolling out the dough really thin takes some patience. 

Yield:
The recipe yields 2 loaves and calls for two 8.5-inch loaf pans. I have one 8.5-inch and one 9-inch and both loaves baked up just fine, so I think you can feel comfortable using whichever you have.

Photo by Daniel Marks