Poppy seed roll

Thepoppy seed rollis apastryconsisting of a roll of sweetyeastbread (asweet roll) with a dense, rich, bittersweet filling ofpoppy seed. An alternative filling is a paste of mincedwalnuts, or mincedchestnuts.
It is popular inCentral Europeand parts ofEastern Europe, where it is commonly eaten atChristmasandEastertime.
It is traditional in several cuisines, includingPolish(strucla z makiem,strucla makowa; poppy seed cake =makowiec),Kashubian(makówc),Hungarian(mákos bejgli),Slovak(makovník),Czech(makový závin),Austrian(Mohnbeugel,MohnstrudelorMohnstriezel),Ukrainian(pyrihz makomпирiг з маком ormakivnykмаківник),Belarusian(makavy ruletмакавы рулет),Bosnian,CroatianandSerbian(makovnjačaorštrudla sa makom),Slovenian(makovapotica),Romanian(coardă cu mac),Russian(rulet s makomрулет с маком),Lithuanian(aguonų vyniotinis),Latvian(magonmaizite),German(Mohnstrudel), and Yiddish (mohn roll).
There are two different doughs used, one with yeast and one without. They dough is made of flour, sugar, egg yolk, milk or sour cream and butter, and yeast.The dough may be flavored withlemon or orange zestor rum. The poppy seed fillingmay contain ground poppy seeds, raisins, butter or milk, sugar or honey, rum andvanilla. Sometimes apricot jam, which is one of the most popular jams used in Hungarian cuisine, is substituted for sugar. There is another similar dish called walnut roll or nut roll, which contains a filling of ground walnuts and sugar, optionally enriched with raisins, rum, butter or milk and/or lemon zest. This filling may be spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, clove or vanilla.
The dough is at first quite heavy, stiff and dry, but with kneading and resting becomes very elastic and strong. It is rolled out into a large sheet, thick or thin depending on taste. One aesthetic principle is that the dough and filling layers should be of equal thickness. Another is that more layers are better. The filling is spread over the dough, which is then rolled into a long cylinder or log. Traditional recipes usually involve brushing the log with the egg white left over from the yolk used in the dough. The unbaked log is gently transferred to a sheet pan, left to rest, then baked until golden brown.
Other recipes use different washes before baking, or a glaze or icing added after.
The poppy seed filling is a paste of ground poppy seeds,milk,butter,sugarand/orhoney, often with additional flavorings such as lemonzestand juice.It may haveraisins.The walnut filling is a paste of ground walnuts, milk, butter, sugar, often with additional flavorings such ascoffeeororange zest.
A very long roll may be bent so that it fits on a baking sheet; the result is called apatkó(Hungarian:horseshoe) in Hungarian. Before baking, the roll may be given a wash of milk. The roll can be finished with aglazeor icing, made ofpowdered sugarandlemon juice. It is typically presented sliced.
In Hungarian cuisine, the rolls, one with each filling, are served together. The combination is known asmákos ésdiós(poppy seed and walnut). However, in some English language cookbooks there may be no mention of the walnut filling as an alternative.Some other food writers combine the poppy seeds and walnuts together in one filling.As a new trend, a chestnut-filled variant (gesztenyés bejgli) is emerging,mainly among younger urban families.
InPoland, poppy seed rolls, known as makowiec, typically contain an array of additives to the fillings, such as rum-soaked raisins, dried plums & apricots, chopped almonds & walnuts and candied peel. Makowiec are almost always decorated with an icing sugar glaze, often topped with chopped nuts and poppy seeds. It is also common for some poppy seed fillings to be sweetened with fruit jams, such as plum or apricot, most notably in Czech (makový závin) and Slovak (makovník) variants of the dessert. Due to intermingling of Polish and Czech culture, immigrants to America sometimes use the term "Kolache" to describe it.
Among eastern Slavic countries, poppy seed rolls are typically quite elaborate. In Russian cuisine, poppy seed filling is often used to prepare a variety of intricate pastries, with dough being braided and woven into several unique shapes. Instead of a glaze, these rolls are usually covered in a dense egg wash and melted butter to produce a soft and spongy final product, known asrulet s makom. In Ukraine, the poppy seed roll's (makivnyk) filling is usually made through combining ground sweetened poppy seeds with whipped egg white meringue to produce a silky and smooth texture.
Poppy seed rolls in the Balkans, known in Croatian and Bosnian asmakovnjačaand in Serbian asštrudla sa makom, typically contain fewer flavouring additives than poppy seed rolls in central-east Europe. Some regional recipes fromSerbia,CroatiaandBosnia and Herzegovinawill call for pouring dried ground poppy seeds mixed with sugar straight onto the dough, drizzling some milk over the seeds to ensure the filling is not too dry.
In Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine,poppy seed paste(mohn in Yiddish) is a common filling in desserts, often featured in both leavened and unleavened recipes. Many Jewish communities from throughoutCentral and Eastern Europe,Israeland diaspora will use this paste to preparebabka, a braided, open-faced version of the poppy seed roll.
A similar Armenian pastry isnazook(also spelled nazuk or nazouk, Armenian Նազուկ, Persian نازوک), made from flour, butter, sugar, sour cream, yeast, vanilla extract and eggs, with a filling often of chopped nuts, and especially walnuts. Nazook is sometimes referred to as gata.
Nokulor lokum is a type ofpuff pastrymade inTurkeyandBulgaria, with variations. It consists of a rolled sheet of yeast dough onto whichfeta-style white cheese, walnut or poppy seed is sprinkled over a thin coat of butter. The dough is then rolled, cut into individual portions, and baked.Nokul is sometimes served hot as an appetizer instead of bread.