Gubana — Friulian Sweet Rolled Pastry

Ingredients

• For the dough
• 500 g plain flour (type 00)
• 7 g dried yeast
• 80 g unsalted butter, softened
• 80 g caster sugar
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 80 ml whole milk, lukewarm
• 1 tsp fine salt
• For the filling
• 250 g walnuts, very finely chopped
• 150 g raisins, soaked in grappa for 30 minutes, drained
• 60 g pine nuts
• 60 g dried breadcrumbs, to absorb excess grappa
• 60 g caster sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 lemon, zest only, finely grated
• 60 ml grappa, for soaking the raisins and moistening the filling
• To finish
• 1 egg, beaten, for egg wash
• 60 ml grappa, warmed, for flambé service at the table

Method

1. 1
   Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk with a pinch of sugar and leave for 10 minutes. The liquid will foam and smell of active yeast — if it does not, the yeast is spent and must be replaced.
2. 2
   Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Add the eggs and the yeast mixture and bring together into a rough dough. Work in the softened butter a little at a time, kneading until the dough is smooth, elastic, and pulls cleanly from the bowl — the surface should be satiny and the dough should spring back when pressed.
3. 3
   Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and prove in a warm place until doubled in volume — approximately 1 hour 30 minutes.
4. 4
   Combine the finely chopped walnuts, drained raisins, pine nuts, breadcrumbs, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest, and enough of the grappa soaking liquid to bind the mixture loosely. The filling must hold together when pressed but must not be wet — if it glistens or slumps, work in additional breadcrumbs. This is the step on which the gubana lives or dies: a filling that is too wet will leak during rolling, unravel the coil in the oven, and destroy the structure of the pastry.
5. 5
   On a lightly floured surface, roll the proved dough into a rectangle approximately 40 × 30 cm. Spread the filling evenly over the surface, leaving a 2 cm border on all sides. Roll the dough up tightly along its length to form a cylinder, pressing the seam firmly to seal.
6. 6
   Coil the cylinder into a snail-shell spiral and place it seam-side down in a buttered round cake tin of approximately 24 cm diameter. Cover and prove again until visibly puffed and the dough yields gently to the touch without springing back immediately — approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour. Do not bake an under-proved gubana; density is the consequence.
7. 7
   Heat the oven to 180 °C. Brush the surface of the gubana thoroughly with beaten egg wash. Bake for 35–40 minutes. The gubana is done when the crust is deep golden-brown and the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the base.
8. 8
   At the table, warm the grappa gently — it must not boil. Pour it over the gubana, ignite with a long match, and allow the flame to die naturally. The alcohol burns off, leaving a grappa-infused crust. Slice and serve immediately. The gubana improves after 24 hours as the filling's flavours merge; it keeps for 5–7 days.