Goriška Gubanca

Goriška gubanca is a typical Easter dessert from the Mediterranean part of Slovenia, which is also widespread in the neighboring Friuli region of Italy. The name derives from the Slovenian word guba that means ‘fold'. In Friulian there is a saying ‘plen come une gubane,' which means ‘full as gubanca' and is a metaphor for a lot of luck and good management.

Gubanca can be made either from yeast or from puff pastry dough. The former originates in Nadiža valley, whereas the latter in Čedad. It is an older relative of potica and is shaped into a spiral, rather than baked in a circular pan with a hole in the middle.

In the past, gubanca was a treat mostly for rich families while the poor had potica. In 1800 Vincenzo Zandonati wrote that to prepare the gubanca filling, almonds from Bari, walnuts from Carnia, and pine nuts from Greece are used, as well as different kinds of raisins, cloves, sugar, butter from Tolmin. These are the ingredients that only a few could afford.

Recept za goriško »gubanco« overovil notar, Primorski dnevnik, 16. maj. 2013

Bogataj, Janez.  Taste Slovenia. Ljubljana: Rokus Gifts & National Geographic, 2007.

Recipe

Ingredients:

Flaky Dough

• 125 g flour

• 250 g butter

Phyllo Dough

• 125 g flour

• 1 egg

• 2 tbsp white wine

• salt

Filling

• 1 egg

• 165 g raisins

• rum for soaking raisins

• 250 g ground walnuts

• 250 g ground almonds

• 100 g candied fruit (or only candied orange peel)

• 40 g ground pine nuts

• 150 g sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla paste (or vanilla essence)

• 50 g dark chopped dark chocolate

• 50 ml white wine

• a pinch of nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Soak the raisins in rum overnight.

Flaky Dough

1. Mix 125 g of flour and butter and knead quickly into a dough.

2. Take a sheet of parchment paper and place the flaky dough over it. Cover with another sheet of parchment paper.

3. Roll with the rolling pin into a 35x40 cm rectangle. The parchment paper will prevent the butter dough from sticking to your rolling pin.

4. Put the rolled out flaky dough into the fridge, and cool for at least an hour.

Phyllo Dough

1. Mix 125 g of flour with egg, white wine, and salt, and form into an elastic phyllo dough. Wrap with plastic and let rest for about an hour.

Filling

1. Mix the walnuts, almonds, pine nuts, candied fruit, and raisins together.

2. Mix sugar with a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves.

3. Add the sugar mixture to the nut mixture along with vanilla paste, chopped chocolate and wine.

The ingredients for the gubanca filling.

Making gubanca

1. After an hour take the phyllo dough and roll it out to a 35x40 cm rectangle.

2. Cover the phyllo dough with the butter dough. Once the butter dough is chill enough, you should be able to remove the parchment paper very easily.

3. Fold the left third of the dough over the middle and then the right third on top of that. You end up with a long middle strip.
4. Fold the top third over the middle third and then the bottom third over that.
5. Sprinkle with flour and roll out this dough into a 40x40 cm rectangle. Beat an egg and brush it over the rectangle.
6. Heat the oven to 180C (360F).
7. Spread the filling in an even layer over the dough.

8. Roll up the dough by hand.
9. Shape the log into a spiral.
10. Brush the spiral with the remaining beaten egg and put into a buttered baking pan.

11. Bake for an hour. Cover with aluminum foil after 30 minutes so that the top doesn't brown too much.
12. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, cut into slices and serve!