Eight places on the podium

The Rosental Pohaca Queen reveals her secret

Maria Begusch is considered the Rosental Pohača queen.(Bild: Dieter Arbeiter)

Maria Begusch has already stood on the podium eight times at the Ferlach Pohača Festival. The "Kärntner Krone" reveals the Rosental "baking fairy" her secret for a perfect Reindling.

Tomorrow, Sunday, Ferlach will once again be all about this sweet pastry. One person who knows her way around the Pohača - Slovenian for cake - is Maria Begusch. The woman from Köttmannsdorf has won the baking competition in the gunsmith town several times, securing a place on the podium a total of eight times. "I usually won with the classic Pohača. It's filled with cinnamon, sugar and raisins," explains the Rosental native. But what makes Maria Begusch's sweet temptation so special?

A lot of time and the right regional ingredients 
The "Krone" looked over the shoulder of the "Pohača Queen". "The ingredients are important. You shouldn't cut corners here under any circumstances." The woman from Köttmannsdorf doesn't use scales at all: "It's all done by feel," laughs Begusch. The Rosental native spent many years abroad and didn't always have a scale with her. "You get a feel for it at some point."

The "Krone" visited the passionate baker.(Bild: Dieter Arbeiter)

She fills her pastries not only with cinnamon, sugar and raisins, but also with nuts.(Bild: Dieter Arbeiter)

And once all the ingredients have been mixed together, there is a break not only for the passionate baker, but also for the yeast dough, which consists of flour, eggs and milk. "It's important that you leave the dough to rise for a very long time," says Begusch in an interview with the Krone. And after a good two and a half hours, the break is over again for a short time. The dough is rolled out, filled and packed into the appropriate mold. And then it's time to wait again. Because the Rosental baker's secret is to let the dough rise twice before putting it in the oven.

Ferlach Pohača festival

• Sunday, 9.30 am, Holy Mass with the Ferlach town choir.
• Afterwards, numerous clubs and associations offer culinary delights in Gaston Glock Park.

While Maria Begusch is already busy preparing for this year's competition, the "Krone" wanted to know from the passionate baker from whom she learned the craft of baking. "From no one. It just happened in passing," jokes the Rosental native, who won first and second place in the "Classic Pohača" category last year.