This wonderful, medieval, Easter dessert unites Slovenia with Gorizia and Trieste.
Grandma often told me about it, but she never did make it.
The first time I ate it was in Gorizia during a medical conference. Something strange happened, and it almost seemed like it wasn’t the first time. The flavors and textures were known to me—maybe they had been passed on to me through my DNA!

Putizza

  • Preparation time: 4 to 6 hours
  • For two 25-cm brioches
  • Difficulty: Difficult recipe

  • Ingredients
  • For the pre-dough:
  • 10 g fresh brewer’s yeast
  • 100 g bread flour
  • 100 ml whole milk
  • For the dough:
  • 350 g bread flour
  • 50 ml milk
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2 whole eggs
  • 100 g sugar
  • 90 g butter
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 8 g salt
  • For the stuffing:
  • 100g dark chocolate
  • 200 g walnuts
  • 150 g raisins
  • 80 g butter
  • 80 g breadcrumbs
  • Rum to taste
  • 50 g honey
  • To brush:
  • 1 egg yolk
  1. Instructions
  2. In a bowl, dissolve the yeast in slightly warm milk and add the flour. Mix well and leave to rise in a warm place, covered, until doubled in size.
  3. In the planetary mixer, add the pre-dough and then the flour and milk, mixing well. Add the eggs, egg yolk, and sugar and continue mixing. Knead the dough well until it becomes elastic. Add the salt.
  4. Add the butter in three sections and finally add the vanilla extract. Form a ball and leave it to rise in a covered bowl until doubled in size.
  5. Meanwhile, prepare the filling. Soak the raisins in the rum, then drain and squeeze them. Finely chop the chocolate. Chop the nuts. In a saucepan, melt the butter and toast the breadcrumbs, then add the honey and chocolate (which will melt with the heat). Finally, add the walnuts.
  6. Take the dough and roll it out with a rolling pin into a rectangular shape. Distribute the filling inside the rectangle and roll it up to form a sausage. Roll the sausage along itself until it forms a spiral.
  7. Place the putizza on a baking tray covered with baking paper and leave to rise in a warm place until doubled in size (this will take about 1-2 hours, depending on the temperature).
  8. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
  9. Brush the putizza with the egg yolk.
  10. Bake in the oven for thirty-forty minutes, the last twenty minutes being covered with baking paper.

Tips to ensure the success of the dish:

  • I generally prepare the dough the day before. I let the dough rise for a short thirty minutes and then leave it in the refrigerator, well covered, for at least twelve hours. This method makes the putizza particularly soft.
  • I always make two desserts with the dough. One is for me and the other is as a gift.
  • The timing of cooking in the oven is indicative because each oven cooks differently, and above all, it depends on the size of the leavened product.