Do you know the meaning of last minute? I know it really well! So it was no wonder that the Daring Bakers’ Challenge for this month was left until the last minute (literally!). To complicate matters, we went for an unplanned vacation and returned home only on 27th morning.
The Daring Baker’s October 2011 challenge was Povitica, hosted by Jenni of The Gingered Whisk. Povitica is a traditional Eastern European Dessert Bread that is as lovely to look at as it is to eat!
I started making the dough (quarter batch) at around 3 PM on 27th and was done baking by 9 PM. I made it with a traditional coconut filling used for South Indian sweets (all I had at home was coconut and jaggery). I had to use more than half a cup of whole wheat flour too, since I was short of all purpose flour. It didn’t make any significant change in the texture or taste of the bread.
I wanted to see whether my bread had the beautiful pattern or not, so I sliced the bread before it had cooled down completely. The filling was a bit sticky at that stage, though it was fine this morning. We took some snaps and shared half the Povitica with friends. This morning took some more pictures and had a slice for break fast too.
Povitica not only looked great, it tasted wonderful too. I would have preferred a savory filling, but will try it another time.
You can check out the original recipe for Povitica here, in the Daring Baker Archive section. I have used the quarter batch measurement. I used about 1/2 – 3/4 cup whole wheat flour and used milk for brushing the top. Other than that, I have followed the recipe as such.
I am going to note down the recipe for the filling here.
Ingredients:
- Coconut : 2 cups, grated
- Jaggery/Brown Sugar : 1 1/2 cups, powdered
- Ghee/Butter : 1 tbsp (optional)
- Roasted gram : 2 tbsp (powdered, optional)
- Water
Method:
- Blend the coconut for a couple of seconds in the blender/mixie for uniform size.Don’t make a paste out of it.
- Add the coconut and the powdered jaggery together in a pan, with quarter cup of water and bring this to a boil stirring continuously. When it reaches a semi solid state, add the ghee and the roasted gram and cook for a further 2 minutes. Switch off the heat. It should be spreadable on the dough, but not runny.
- Use this as the filling for povitica.
Thank you Daring Bakers and Jenni for this beautiful challenge. I really enjoyed it.
Linked to:
- The Daring Bakers
- Veggie/Fruit A Month – Coconut
- Dish It Out – for this month’s combination of Wheat and Jaggery
- Healing Foods : Coconut
- Global Food Festival
My Kitchen Trials 
This is the most amusing povitica I have seen so far, loved your coconut and jaggery filling, very intriguing. Thanx for sending this to healing foods
LikeLike
Wow, the filing to bread ratio looks so perfect in your povitica! I love how many different fillings and shapes the group came up with. Yours is beautiful :D
LikeLike
Wonderful job! Your povitica looks great, you created some beautiful swirls!! And the filling you chose sounds wonderful, too!
LikeLike
I think yours is definitely one of the prettiest poviticas I have seen in the challenge. LOVE the coconut – jaggery filling. I’m amazed you pulled this out the last minute – mad skills!
LikeLike
Your Povitica looks delicious and your swirls and filling are fantastic :) I did mine last minute too…
LikeLike
A coconut filling sound fantastic! And the swirls are brilliant! You certainly do a good job of last minute!
LikeLike
I guess all of us must have gone through the “last minute” phase with one or more DB challenges. Your last-minute povitica looks so perfect and your improvised coconut filling is something anyone would fall in love with :)
LikeLike
Great job! How did you get the top of your loaf to look so lovely?! And I’m impressed you were able to share half with friends – I selfishly devoured mine entirely by myself :)
LikeLike
I love the striations you can really see the individual 4 parts, looks great!
LikeLike
Wow well done, povitica looks super delicious and marvellous..
LikeLike
Coconut, yum! Glad you were able to get yours done in time. I only did mine two days before the deadline, so I was right there with ya on the last minute rush!
LikeLike
It seems to be so nice, if only I could eat a part ! Thank you for this nice recipe.
LikeLike
I love so much your povitica!
thanks for your visit and for your nice comment!
LikeLike
Wow! you were brave! And I thought I had left mine to the last minute :) I don’t usually do this, but this month I made it a couple of days before the dead line. Coconut is on my list for my next Povitica, yours looks fantastic!
LikeLike
I made mine 5 days before the deadline, which is very early for me! I love coconut, so this filling sounds perfect to me. Great job getting it made in so little time. It looks amazing!
LikeLike
I’m usually quite last minute with my Daring Bakers entries but I was so excited when I first saw it that I had to make it straight away! Yours looks fantastic! And I preferred my savoury one the best :) I can’t wait to make more!
LikeLike