Ukrainian Pastry: Poppy Seed Roll Recipe

We usually make this incredibly delicious fluffy yeast dough roll with poppy seeds filling on Easter. But there is no reason not to make it just because😉 I love it because of its layering texture when light dough alternates with a crumbly filling that smells amazing. It goes perfectly with a glass of milk or a cup of tea, and those contrast slices look great on a festive table no matter the season.

I make pastries using the sweetener, but I will give you the original recipe from my great-grandmother's cooking book, just reducing the amount of sugar by half. In the book, it was 1 cup of sugar to the dough and 1 cup to the filling, but for me, it is too much.

Ukrainian traditional cuisine has many yeast dough pastries, but this type of dough requires some skills, time, and patience. I will try to describe some details to make it easy for you to make these stunning rolls. 

Poppy seed roll recipe (Ukrainian: рулет з маком)

Yeast dough:

• 3.5 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup milk
• 2 medium or large eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter (50 g)
• 0.5 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 30 g fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg yolk for glazing

Poppy seed filling:

• 2 cups poppy seeds
• 0.5 cup sugar
• 50 g raisins
• 50 g butter
• 1 egg white

1 cup = 250 ml

1. If you use fresh yeast: Heat the milk to 37 degrees C and add the yeast, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 1 tablespoon of flour. Let the mixture rest for 20-30 minutes until it gets bubbles. If you use dry yeast: Add them to the flour and mix them together. Let it rest for 10 minutes.
2. Add all the ingredients to the yeast mixture (except the butter) and make a dough. Then knead the dough until it has a smooth structure (about 8 min by hand or 3 minutes by electric stand mixer) and add the butter (room temperature). Then knead the dough again until smooth and shiny.
3. Put the dough in a big bowl and let it prove for 1-1.5 hours in a warm place until it doubles in size. I put the bowl in the oven without heating it, just turning on the light. 
4. Meanwhile, make the poppy seeds filling. Steam the seeds with boiling water and leave them for 20-30 minutes. Then drain the water and let them cool. Steam the raisins too, and drain the water. Ground poppy seeds in a blender until they get a white liquid. Add the raisins, melted butter, and whipped egg white. Mix it all together. 
5. Divide the dough into two parts and roll them out to form rectangular pieces. Spread half of the poppy filling on each piece of dough, keeping the sides clear. And roll the dough with filling, putting the sides underneath. Put the rolls on parchment and let them prove for about 1.5 hours.
6. Glaze the top of the rolls with the mixture of 1 egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of milk, and let them rest for 5-6 minutes. Put the rolls in preheated oven (180 degrees C) and bake for 40-50 minutes, depending on your oven, until golden brown.
7. Let them cool and cut them into pieces. Bon appetite! 😊

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