Canadian Macedonian Heritage Society Canadian Macedonian Heritage Society Become a member!

Pastry & pies

Pogača

The round loaf broken by hand at Christmas Eve, at a slava, or at any table with something to mark.

Recipe from Туѓино Јабано

Pogača
Prep
1 hr 45 min
Cook
40 min
Total
2 hr 25 min
Fasting
Not suitable

Ingredients 11 ingredients

Method

  1. Stir the yeast and sugar into the lukewarm milk and leave it ten minutes, until it foams. If nothing happens, the yeast is dead and there is no sense going further.
  2. Put the flour in a wide bowl, make a well in the middle and add the yeasted milk, the yoghurt, the oil and one beaten egg. Bring it together with your hand, then work in the salt.
  3. Knead on a lightly floured board for a full ten minutes. The dough should stay soft and a little tacky. Resist adding flour — a dry pogača is stale by the next morning.
  4. Cover the bowl with a cloth and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour, until it has doubled.
  5. Knock the dough back and divide it into ten balls. Flatten each one, put a pinch of sirenje in the centre, close the dough over it and roll the ball in the softened kajmak.
  6. Sit the balls side by side in a greased round tin about 26 cm across, leaving a finger's width between them. Cover and prove for thirty minutes, until they swell and touch.
  7. Beat the second egg, brush the tops and scatter over the sesame seeds.
  8. Bake at 200°C for fifteen minutes, then drop the heat to 180°C for another twenty to twenty-five minutes, until deep brown and hollow-sounding underneath.
  9. Turn the loaf onto a cloth and cover it while it cools, so the steam softens the crust. Bring it to the table whole and let people pull the pieces apart, which is the point of the shape.

If you cannot find it

Substitutions that work outside Macedonia.

Kajmak
Clotted cream beaten with a pinch of salt, or mascarpone loosened with double cream. Melted butter will do, though the crumb comes out less tender.
Sirenje
Feta, rinsed and drained so the loaf does not turn out too salty.
Sheep's yoghurt
Full-fat Greek yoghurt; thick enough, if without the same tang.

More in this course

Cook something that is not here?

Send us the recipe as you make it at home. We read every one.

Send us a recipe

Send us a recipe

Write it as you would tell a friend. Somebody will read it and write back before anything is published.

Used only to ask you about the recipe. It is never published and never shared.

Every recipe on this site is published in all three languages. Write yours in whichever one you cook in — we will take care of the other two.

Is it fasting food?

Fasting means no meat, no dairy and no eggs. Fish is treated as permitted.

One per line, with the quantity.

Leave a blank line between steps.

Optional. One per line, like “Ajvar — roasted red pepper paste”.

JPG, PNG or WebP, up to 5 MB.