Prekmurska Gibanica is a delicacy amongst desserts and a showpiece of Slovenian national cuisine. The name of this old festive and ceremonial dish from Prekmurje had been derived from the word güba (Slovene: fold); the dish itself had become a tradition in the region along the Mura river far back in history. However, the original Prekmurska Gibanica differed from its present form indeed: through the centuries, new layers of fillings have been added, resulting in the dessert known today.
🇸🇮 Slovenia: Prekmurska Gibanica
Ingredients
- Store-bought phyllo pastry sheets
Shortcrust Pastry
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- A pinch of salt
- 6 tablespoons of butter cubed
- 2 –3 tablespoons cold water
Poppy seed filling
- 1 ¼ cups ground poppy seeds
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 packet 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla sugar (optional)
Cottage cheese filling
- 5 ¼ cups cottage cheese
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 bags vanilla sugar optional
- A pinch of salt if needed
Walnut filling
- 1 ¼ Cups ground walnuts
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 packet vanilla sugar roughly 1.5 tsp; optional
Apple filling
- 5½ cups grated apples
- ½ cup sugar +1 Tbsp
- 2 packets vanilla sugar roughly 3 tsp; optional
- cinnamon
Cream topping
- 3½ cups heavy cream
- 3 eggs
Fat topping
- 1 cup melted margarine butter, plant oil, or lard can be used instead
Instructions
Pastry
- Place the flour and salt in a large bowl and add the cubes of butter.
- Use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until you have a mixture that resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of butter remaining. Try to work quickly so that it does not become greasy.
- Stir in just enough of the cold water to bind the dough together. Start with 1-2 tablespoons and add more if absolutely needed. Gently knead the pastry on a clean work surface until it just comes together.
- Alternatively, if using a food processor, pluse the flour, salt and butter in the food processor until the fat is rubbed into the flour. With the motor running, gradually add the cold water through the funnel until the dough comes together. Only add enough water to bind it and then stop.
- Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. Alternatively, you can also roll out the dough immediately and line the baking pan with it, resting the pan in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking.
Preparation and Baking
- Preheat the oven to 345°F.
- Mix together the ingredients for the three fillings in separate bowls.
- To make the cream topping, beat the eggs and mix them slowly with the cream.
- Cover an 11 x 15 inch baking pan with a layer of shortcrust pastry (unless you have already), then add a layer of phyllo pastry.
- Spread half of the poppy seed filling over the pastry and douse the filling with the fat topping and the cream topping.
- Cover with another layer of phyllo pastry and half of the cottage cheese filling.
- Spread half of the walnut filling and half of the apple filling over the pastry, covering each with another layer of the phyllo pastry.
- Repeat steps 5-7. Douse the final layer with either the fat topping or a combination of the fat and the cream topping.
- Bake for two hours.