Pogača Butter Bread

Pogača, or pogacha is a white bread that Serbians, Croatians, Macedonians and other Balkans, Turks, and Hungarians claim as their own. There are as many recipes and variations for it as there are shapes, although round is traditional. There's also a fasting variant that contains no eggs, milk, or butter. You can make this bread using white plain flour, or a mix of wholegrain and plain flours. They are soft, pillowy and buttery. It's ideal for a party or to take to a gathering. To make it even more decadent and interesting, add some cheese, ham and herbs after brushing with the butter.

Dough	Others
300 g White spelt flour 300 g Wholegrain spelt flour 7 g Dried instant yeast (I used Dr. Oetker) 3/4 tsp Sea salt 250 ml Lucwarm whole milk 3 Medium sized eggs, at room-temperature 1 tbsp Honey 2 tbsp Olive oil	100 g Melted butter 1 Egg yolk 1 tsp Milk 1 tsp Poppy or sesame seeds for the topping

In the bowl of your stand mixer with a dough hook, add in spelt flours, active dried yeast, and salt. Make a well in the center, add in milk, eggs, honey and olive oil.
Mix on the low speed until everything comes together. Increase the speed and knead until the dough has become smooth and elastic.
Turn out the dough and shape into a ball. Lightly grease the mixing bowl and return the dough ball in it. Cover with a plastic film and let rise until doubled, 1-2 hours.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface lightly dusted with flour and divide into eight equal pieces, each about 130 grams. Shape each into a ball and let rest on the table for five minutes.
Roll each dough ball into a rectangle, about 26x16cm. Brush a rectangle with butter, about 10 grams, and top with another rectangle. Again brush with 10 grams of butter. Now from the long side, roll up the rectangles into a log. Set aside. Repeat with another dough balls. You should end up having 4 logs.
Line the bottom of a 28cm round springform pan with baking paper and grease the sides. Cut away the both ends of each log, about 4 cm long - we'll have eight rosettes. Place the rosettes, cut side down, into the center of prepared pan. Now cut each center log into 5 triangles and arrange them around the rosettes. Cover the dough with a clean kitchen towel and let it proof for 30-45 minutes until fully risen.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. In a small bowl, mix together the egg yolk and milk. Brush the top of bread and sprinkle the poppy seeds over. Bake the bread in the center of hot oven for 40-45 minutes until golden brown. Remove the bread and brush with the remaining butter. Enjoy warm!

9 comments:

Tom 17/11/24 13:25: ...this is swirls of goodness.
Lola Martínez 17/11/24 13:28: Que rico ese pan, está diciendo cómeme.
ellie 17/11/24 13:48: Oh, these look great to wake up to. Thanks for waking me up!
Ivy's Closet 17/11/24 13:48: Yummy! I know I would definitely eat more than one!
ellie 17/11/24 13:49: Beautiful bread 🍂💛❤️
Caitlin&Megan 17/11/24 13:51: Thanks so much for the insight and history of this bread!
Anonymous 17/11/24 16:04: Yummy! -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
Granny Sue 17/11/24 16:20: That is so pretty, and I bet it tastes as good as it looks, Angie!
DEZMOND 17/11/24 18:24: It is Serbian given that you used our name for it :) and Serbs greet guests with it and also bake it during the holidays and their respective family Saint Patron day. The original pogaca is, methinks, made with active yeast, not instant, but both obviously work given how yours turned out gorgeously.
As a kid I have always dreamt of it, because we never had it in our house, our parents were neglectful and we yearned for so many simple things, but now I cannot eat as I am glufree.