Slovenia
Dish
Prekmurska gibanica (Prekmurian layer cake) is a type of gibanica or layered cake.[1] It contains poppy seeds, walnuts, apples, raisins and ricotta fillings. Although native to Prekmurje, it has achieved the status of a national specialty of Slovenia. The unique sweetmeat shows the variety of agriculture in this region using diverse native ingredients. The name gibanica comes from dialectical expression güba which refers to a fold.
For centuries prekmurska gibanica was served as a festive and ritual dish in Prekmurje. The exact origin of the recipe is not clear. Early sources suggest that it evolved over centuries. The oldest recorded document is found in the description of a wedding by József Kossics and dated 1828.
Be warned the recipe is quite labour intensive but the result is well worth it!
Ingredients
- A fireproof earthenware baking mould (preferably round, diameter 32 to 35 cm, height 7 to 9 cm).
- To pour on: 70 cl sour cream and 2 eggs or 3 egg yolks, mixed well
- To sprinkle on: 250 g butter
- Strudel dough
- 500 g flour
- 40 g sunflower seed oil
- 20 to 30 cl lukewarm water
- salt
- Short pastry dough (base)
- 150 g flour
- 100 g fat (butter or margarine)
- 1 egg yolk, 50 g icing sugar
- 1 pack of vanilla sugar
- 250 g ground walnuts
- 80 g sugar, some cinnamon
- grated lemon peel
- 1000 g full-fat curd cheese
- 1 egg
- 80 g raisins
- 100 g sugar
- salt
- 1 pack vanilla sugar
- 150 g ground poppy seeds
- 80 g sugar
- some cinnamon
- grated lemon peel
- 1 kg apples
- 100 g sugar
- some cinnamon
Method
Strudel dough
- Sift the flour onto a working surface, make a well in the middle, add a pinch of salt, oil and water, mix everything together and knead for about 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic.
- Shape the dough into a ball, coat with oil, cover and leave to rest for 30 minutes on a floured board.
- Sift the flour onto a working surface, press a well in the middle, add knobs of butter, sugar, egg yolk and vanilla sugar, and knead together quickly.
- Thoroughly mix ground walnuts, sugar, vanilla sugar and cinnamon.
- Mash the curd cheese, thoroughly mix the egg, vanilla sugar, sugar, some salt and grated lemon peel until the filling spreads nicely.
- Add washed raisins that have been softened in rum.
- Thoroughly mix ground poppy seeds, sugar, vanilla sugar, cinnamon and grated lemon peel. Apple filling
- Peel the apples, slice them and mix them with sugar and cinnamon.
- Grease the baking mould well, roll out the short pastry dough and line the base of the baking mould with it, then prick it gently with a fork.
- Stretch the strudel dough and coat it with oil.
- Pull it thinly over the baking mould so that the thick edges hang down over the mould. Cut off the edges to make 8 equal-sized sheets of strudel dough.
- Place the first sheet of strudel dough on the short pastry dough, coat with poppy seed filling and sprinkle with butter and the sour cream mixture.
- Then place the second sheet of strudel pastry on top, coat with curd cheese filling and sprinkle with butter and the sour cream mixture.
- Cover with the next sheet of strudel dough, coat with walnut filling and again sprinkle with butter and the sour cream mixture.
- Coat the fourth sheet of strudel dough with the apple filling and sprinkle with butter and the sour cream mixture. The Gibanica is now half-assembled.
- Repeat steps 4 through 7 until you end up with 8 uniform layers.
- Finally, cover with a sheet of strudel dough and pull it over the edge of the baking mould, then sprinkle with butter and cream.
- Prick the Gibanica with a long needle again. Bake in a pre-heated oven or bread oven at 175°C for about 75 minutes.
- Coat with sour cream and allow it to cool a little
- Cut into triangles, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve.