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Living / Recipe Box
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Minnesota Potica Bakers
Andrej’s European Pastry, Chisholm  218-254-2520www.poticawalnut.com Italian Bakery, Virginia 218-741-3464 www.potica.com Sunrise Bakery, Hibbing 218-263-4985 www.sunrisegourmet.com |
The appreciative crowd went wild, erupting into loud, enthusiastic applause as the final rolling of the huge sweet bread turned into a much beloved ethnic treat known as potica (“po-teet-sah”).
In the taping of the more than 40 cooking shows I’ve done for WDSE public television over the years, it was the only time I’d witnessed such an outburst. There were more than a dozen wonderful dishes prepared that day on stage by engaging cooks for the program showcasing classic Iron Range cuisine. It was only the consummation of the potica recipe that rated such adulation.
Read the full text of this article in the December/January issue of Lake Superior Magazine.
Juli Kellner hosts the “Cooking with WDSE” series for WDSE-TV/DT public television in Duluth, where she is program director.
| Potica Goes to Washington | |
 |
Every Thursday morning from 8:30 to
9:30 a.m., Minnesotans
visiting Washington, D.C., can get a sweet taste of home in the offices
of Sen. Amy Klobuchar. The senior senator from Minnesota serves breakfast for Minnesotans and potica is always on the menu. Being a prudent representative from her home state, Amy orders from just about all of the Minnesota Iron Range bakeries that make the special bread. Asked which bakery produces her very favorite potica, she diplomatically responded that her favorite will always be the apple-walnut version made by her grandmother. |
Recipe Box
This recipe is from the cookbook, Cooking on the Range, submitted by Jean Karsman of the Slovenian Women’s Association of Chisholm, Minnesota. (Many jealously guard their potica secrets.)
 |
| Janet Sopp demonstrates dough
rolling on the extended counter she had put into her Eveleth,
Minnesota, home especially for potica. |
• 5 tsp. dry yeast
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 c. warm water
In a one-cup measure, dissolve yeast in warm water, add sugar, stir and let bubbles form on top.
Combine the ingredients to make the dough. Separate into two parts to make the top and bottom crusts for a 9-inch pie plate.
Dough Mixture
• 1-1/2 c. scalded milk (1 minute in microwave) Can use half as canned milk or half-and-half cream.
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 stick margarine
• 2 beaten eggs
• 6-1/2 to 7 cups flour (Jean uses Gold Medal regular)
Scald milk and margarine in microwave for 1 minute, add sugar, salt, eggs and yeast mixture. Stir and add flour, beginning with 6 cups, then gradually adding more flour until dough is no longer sticky.
Knead – with a dough hook or by hand on
floured board for about 20
minutes until smooth. (Jean does half with dough hook at a time, and
then kneads all for several minutes to combine.) Place in well-greased
large bowl, cover and let rise in warm place or put bowl in hot tap
water, changing water frequently to keep hot. (No kneading after dough
is risen to top.) Line three pans with parchment paper. (Jean has
14-inch pans, so she makes three strips out of one batch as her table
is 42 inches.) Spray paper with cooking spray such as Pam.Filling
• 6 c. ground walnuts (about 1-1/2 lbs.)
• 1 c. white sugar
• 1 c. brown sugar
• 3 eggs beaten with 1 tsp. almond flavoring
• 1 c. scalded cream or canned milk with 1 stick real butter melted in and 1/2 c. honey
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
Add hot liquid to ground walnuts that have been mixed with sugars and cinnamon. Stir well, add eggs.
Return to bread dough, which should plop, not run. Carefully dump dough onto table that has been covered with a twin sheet or table cloth and lightly floured. Start with a rolling pin, rolling the dough to a rectangle about 24 by 36 inches. Then stretch dough to 42 by 60 inches or to your table size. Cut off any thicker edges. Drop filling by large spoonfuls over two-thirds of the dough (using hands spreads easiest and most uniformly.) Spread evenly to edges and pick up short edge of cloth and gently roll over and over itself.
Cut into pan-size strips and patch with leftover thin dough or cut with a small plate and pinch ends shut. Place in prepared pans and prick with cake tester (or turkey pin) to prevent air bubbles. Cover and let rise about 40 minutes.
Preheat oven to 325° F or 350° F depending on oven. Bake 35 to 45 minutes until golden brown. (Jean bakes hers at 340° F for about 35 minutes.) Remove from oven and let cool in pans for 20 minutes. Carefully dump out in hand, remove paper and set on a cooling rack. Cover with a cotton cloth and cool. (Jean wraps hers in plastic wrap and then freezer foil.) Freezes well for up to six months.
Potica Cake
This recipe by Lucille Tradan Bontems in Cooking on the Range is a tasty alternative for those hankering potica but not able to do the work. The taste echoes potica, though it’s not the real thing, of course!
• 3/4 c. butter
• 1-1/2 c. sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 c. flour
• 1 pt. sour cream
• 1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, beating until creamy. Sift together flour, baking powder and soda. Add alternately with sour cream to butter mixture. Add vanilla, mix until smooth.
Filling
• 1 c. grated walnuts
• 2 Tbsp. flour
• 1-1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan. Alternate layers of batter and filling, then cut through batter with a knife for marble effect. Bake 1 hour, 10 minutes at 350° F.
Reader Submitted Recipes
Rea Theno Rossi, Charlotte, North Carolina, submits two quick recipes. “As my mom reacher her mid-80s, she had trouble making potica dough the real way, so we had to do without potica for the hoidays. That just didn’t seem right! I’ve been experimenting with the recipes for about six years with the help of my mom, Helen Sloger Theno, who passed away in 2007, and my sister, Marguerite Theno Shavor. … Many of us “Rangers” never learned the baking skills of our mothers and grandmothers or we moved away from home for jobs and schooling, but still have strong ties back to the area.
Fast ’N Easy ’N Tasty Ranger Apple Potica
3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 tbsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 - 2 sticks of butter
1 package of phyllo dough (Athens Thick or Kontos #5 preferred)
Combine sugar and cinnamon. Grease baking sheet. Preheat oven to 425°.
Follow directions on package for phyllo dough. Each box contains two wrapped packages with about 21 sheets of pastry dough per package. Use approximately 7 sheets per potica section if using regular phyllo dough. If using the Athens Thick or Kontos #5 brand, use 4 sheets per section. The recipe makes 3 sections.
On a pastry cloth, lay out one sheet of fillo dough, then overlap the next sheet about an inch or more, overlap on the widest edge, repeat again until you’ve used 1/3 of the phyllo dough sheets in the package.
Generously spread melted butter over all areas of the pastry sheets to keep it moist (this will make it easier to roll).
Sprinkle about 1/3 of cinnamon-sugar mixture evenly over the dough.
Place very thinly cut apple slices (horizontally to widest edge for easy rolling) on pastry sheets.
Roll pastry sheets like a jellyroll from one end to the other. (It will crack and break up, but just keep rolling and ignore the holes and broken pieces.)
Place this potica section on the greased baking sheet.
Repeat process for the two remaining potica sections with approximately 7 pastry sheets each.
Drizzle melted butter on top of each section.
Bake at 425° for 10 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 350° and bake for approximately 30 minutes.
Remove from oven and cool.
Fast ’N Easy ’N Tasty Ranger Walnut Potica
6 pkg. Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough (8 oz. each)
Flour for dusting
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
1 lb. (4 c.) ground walnuts
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 c. honey
1/2 c. sugar
1/4 c butter (1/2 stick) plus more for spreading on top of the finished potica
1 tsp. vanilla
3 slightly beaten eggs
Filling:
In a saucepan, scald evaporated milk. Add walnuts, honey, sugar and eggs. Stir until combined. Cook over medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add butter and vanilla. Stir until combined. Let cool.
Preheat oven to 350º.
Prepare dough:
Use 2 packages of Pillsbury Crescent Roll dough per potica. Remove dough from packages and unroll on a pastry cloth that has been sprinkled with flour if needed to avoid sticking. (For a pastry cloth, use a muslin-type sheet.) Push perforations together with fingers to form a solid rectangle using both packages of dough. Sprinkle lightly with flour. Use a rolling pin to flatten the dough further. This is the challenging part, but don’t give up! Now it will become an irregularly shaped rectangle.
Spread 1/3 of walnut filling on the dough. It is okay to use your fingers to spread the filling over the dough. Roll the dough like a jellyroll. Place potica roll in a well-greased loaf pan. If the roll is too large, it is okay to “stuff” it into a loaf pan or to trim about 1/3 off (with a twist of thread or sharp butcher knife).
Repeat the process to make two more poticas. Spread butter on top of each potica to prevent excessive cracking.
Bake at 350º for approximately 1 hour - more or less depending on the oven.
Remove from oven and cool in the pain for approximately 2 minutes before removing potica from pan and placing on a cooling rack to cool completely. Lightly spread top with butter. The shape will collapse as it cools but that is okay, it is not the real dough.
** Recipe makes 3 oversized poticas, but they will fit in 4 loaf pans if each potica is trimmed by 1/3 to fit better and place the 3 cut-off sections in the fourth loaf pan.
