Christmas Baking: Gubana

It seems like I'm always standing outside in the cold with my two lagotto romagnolo puppies.  They are four months old now and potty training is going reasonably well. It has been unseasonably cold and the high humidity makes the cold air seep through to your bones.  Once we're outside the puppies see the snow and instantly forget why they are outside in the first place. All they can think of are the twigs hiding under the snow, the flakes in the air, and the snow they can snuffle.

All I can think of is getting back in the warm house.  And gubana.

What is gubana?  A spiral shaped, filled sweet bread, sort of like a giant cinnamon roll, only with  dried fruits, nuts, and a bit of grappa.  Originally a Christmas treat, you can get it year round in north eastern Italy.  Panettone may be wonderful;  pandoro is tasty; but nothing beats gubana!   

There are two different kinds of gubana.  One is made with a pastry dough, the other with a sweet yeast bread dough.  

My first attempt at making my own gubana was nearly disastrous.  The only recipe I had was for  the pastry version of gubana.   It called for placing the unbaked gubana in a spring form pan.  So I did.  The butter in the dough melted as it baked . . . and dripped out the bottom of the spring form pan.  When the melted butter hit the bottom of the oven it caught fire.  My children were quick to call me . . "Mom, is there supposed to be fire in the oven?"  The flame was small and the gubana was tasty, but my kids will always remember the time "the oven was on fire."

So I was relieved when I saw a recipe for a yeast dough gubana in the pages of Flavors of Friuli:  A Culinary Journey through Northeastern Italy.   Making the recipe even more enticing was learning that the yeast bread version was probably the version my great grandmother would have made. This time my gubana was nearly perfect, and perfectly delicious. 

When I went to Udine I found a tiny store that specialized in yeast gubana.  Of course, I bought a small gubana and carried it back to my apartment for immediate sampling.  It was wonderful, and essentially the same as the gubana I had baked at home.  Or rather, the gubana I made was a good imitation of the real thing.  (Kudos to Elisabeth Crawford for providing a recipe that comes so close to the original.)

I love finding little pastry shops in Udine and Cividale del Friuli.  I'm wondering who makes the best gubana.  If I'm walking down the street and pass by a shop with gubana on display, I have to stop and buy one.  I've even sampled cheap boxed gubana from grocery stores.  You get what you pay for.  The mass produced, boxed version of gubana is probably better than a Twinkie or a Ding Dong, but fresh baked gubana from a bakery is one thousand times better.

One of my favorite gubane comes from Laboratori del Dolce in Udine.  It's a small pastry shop at the foot of the castle.  I also enjoyed conversation with the baker himself.  He reminded me with a twinkle in his eye and a bit of well deserved pride, that gubana is a specialty of the area.  Sliwowitz, a prune grappa, he said, is best with gubana.  It is made right there in the area.  A few drops sprinkled over a piece of gubana just before serving is the finishing touch.

I can't wait to start baking . . . the stretchy, soft dough in my hands, the smell of spices, toasted nuts and candied orange peel filling the house, the first mouthful of gubana still a bit warm from the oven.. . it's gubana!