Festive poppy seed rolls

 

 Today I'd like to share a recipe for a poppy seed roll.

 

I used the occasion to try out a few tricks I heard of to make sure that poppy seed roll is beautiful and without cracks. I'm quite pleased with the outcome - the rolls turned out fluffy and quite handsome, and they are sweet, delicious and full of character thanks to the dried fruit and Amaretto.

You'll find the list of ingredients, method and approximate nutritional value below.

Turn on English CC to watch the video.

List of ingredients

Dough

• 550 g wheat flour
• 300 ml buttermilk
• 1 packet dried yeast (7 g) or 25 g fresh yeast
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 60 g butter
• 4 egg yolks

Filling

• 300 g poppy seeds
• 120 g honey
• 60 g butter
• 120 g favourite nuts and seeds (I used 60 g walnuts and 60 g almonds)
• 180 g dried fruit (I used 60 g raisins, 60 g dried apricots and 60 g dried cranberries)
• 3 tbsp (~60 g) candied orange peel
• 2 tbsp Amaretto
• 1 packet dried yeast (7 g) or 25 g fresh yeast
• 4 egg whites

Icing

• 4 tbsp lemon juice
• 200 g icing sugar
• 3 tbsp (~60 g) candied orange peel

Method 

1. Rinse 300 g poppy seeds under running water and put them into a large pot. Cover seeds with boiling water straight out of kettle and set aside to cool completely. Roughly chop 60 g almonds and 60 g walnuts. Cut 60 g dry apricots into 0.5 cm cubes. Feel free to soak raisins and cranberries - I'm skipping this step.
2. Transfer cool poppy seeds onto a fine sieve and remove water as best you can. Grind poppy seeds twice in a mincer fitted with fine screen.
3. Add chopped nuts and apricots, 60 g raisins, 60 g cranberries and 60 g orange peel into ground poppy seeds. Pour in cool melted butter, honey and Amaretto. Mix the ingredients carefully with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon. If you want to bake your cake on the next day, keep the mixture in a fridge.
4. Prepare yeast dough. Add 30 g caster sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and 7 g dry yeast to 550 g wheat flour. Mix through with a whisk until sugar and yeast are evenly distributed.
5. Add 300 ml lukewarm buttermilk and 4 egg yolks. Give dough a stir. Add 60 g cool melted butter. Mix the contents of the bowl until dough absorbs grease.
6. Knead dough with your hand, in the bowl at first, and then turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Work it until it stops sticking to your hands or worktop. Transfer dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to raise for an hour, or until it doubles in size.
7. Towards the end of the process, whip 4 egg whites with a bit of salt until stiff peaks. Add 7 g dry yeast to poppy seed filling and gently fold in egg whites. Set aside.
8. Divide raised dough into two parts. Roll out each part into a rectangle, 35 x 25 cm. Put half of poppy seed filling onto each rectangle and spread it, leaving a clean 2 cm strip along a longer edge. Shape each part into a tight roll. Close the ends and the seam at the bottom. 
   
9. Transfer rolls onto greased baking paper. Prick them with a wooden skewer in a few places and cover with baking paper loosely, leaving around 2 cm for them to raise during baking. 
10. Transfer rolls onto a long baking tray, leaving some distance between them, and bake them for 30-35 minutes in a conventional oven preheated to 180 deg C.
11. Take baked rolls out of the oven and set them aside on the tray to cool slightly. Remove baking paper, transfer rolls to a wire rack and cool completely.
12. Prepare icing. Add 3-4 tbsp lemon juice to 200 g icing sugar and mix them together until thick and half-fluid.
13. Pour icing on top of cool rolls and decorate with additional candied orange peel. Leave them on the counter for icing to set.
14. Enjoy!
    

Approximate nutritional value

100 g

• 335 kcal 
• Carbs: 45 g   
• Fat: 14 g 
• Protein: 8 g 
• Fibre: 4 g 

1 slice (recipe makes 30 slices) 

• 252 kcal 
• Carbs: 34 g   
• Fat: 11 g 
• Protein: 6 g 
• Fibre: 3 g