Polish Poppy Seed Roll

For the dough:

• 1 cup (250 ml) milk

• 4 teaspoons (15 g) sugar

• 2 packets (14 g) yeast

• 4 cups (500 g) all-purpose flour

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 2 egg yolks

• 1/4 cup (50 g) butter

• 1 teaspoon vanilla

  For the filling:

• 10 ounces (300 g) poppy seeds

• 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

• 2 teaspoons butter

• 2 egg whites

• 3 tablespoons honey

• 1 cup raisins

• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon oil

• for glaze (optional);

• 2 cups powdered sugar

• 1/4 cup milk

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Cover the poppy seeds in boiling water and let sit for a few hours or overnight

2. Heat the milk to 110 F (43 C), pour into a large bowl

3. Stir in the sugar and the yeast, let sit for 5 minutes

4. Stir in the flour, salt, egg yolk, butter, and vanilla, kneading my hand to work in all of the flour

5. Cover the bowl with a dish towel and let rise until doubled in size about 90 minutes

6. While the dough rises, strain the water from the poppy seeds using a paper towel lined colander

7. Grind the poppy seeds in a spice (clean electric coffee grinder) or a food processor, you’ll get the best results with a spice grinder, but you’ll have to process in batches

8. Mix sugar, butter, egg whites, honey, ground raisins (process in your spice grinder or just add to the food processor and mix) and almond extract

9. Punch down the dough, and divide in two

10. Roll each piece into a 14 inch x 10 inch rectangle

11. Spread half of the poppy seed filling in each rectangle, avoiding the edges

12. Roll up (on the long side), pinching to seal the dough, tucking the end underneath and pinching to keep the filling from leaking out

13. Place the rolls on a parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down

14. Cover with dish towel and let rise 35-40 minutes

15. Preheat over to 350 F (175 C)

16. Brush with egg beaten with oil, bake for 35 minutes

17. Cool

18. (Optional) stir milk into powdered sugar and pour/drizzle over the rolls

19. Cut into 1/2 inch slices