Beigli

Ingredients:

For the Dough:
500g plain flour
150ml sour cream
250g butter
1 tbsp sugar
20g fresh yeast
1 egg
50g caster sugar
pinch of salt

For the Poppy Seed Stuffing:
200g ground poppy seeds
150g caster sugar, dissolved in 100ml water
1 packet (10g) vanilla sugar
50g raisins soaked in 50ml rum
finely-grated zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2/4 tsp ground cloves

For the Walnut Stuffing:
400g ground walnuts
250g caster sugar
100ml milk
50g raisins soaked in rum
finely-grated zest of 1 orange
1 packet (10g) vanilla sugar

Method:

For the dough, heat the sour cream in a pan until just lukewarm. Take of the heat then pour into a bowl and beat in the egg. Crumble the yeast into this mixture and set aside.

Sift the flour into a separate bowl, dice the butter and add to the flour, rubbing the ingredients together until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Sprinkle over the caster sugar and add a pinch of salt. Mix in the sour cream mix and bring the ingredients together as a dough.

Divide into four pieces, knead each one well then shape into laves, cover with clingfilm and set aside to rest in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours (but over night is best).

Now prepare the poppy seed filling. Bring the water and sugar mix to a boil then take off the heat before whisking in the ground poppy seeds. Drain the soaked raisins and mix these in with the vanilla sugar and the ground cinnamon and cloves. Finally add the lemon zest and lemon juice.

For the walnut stuffing. Combine the milk and caster sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then take off the heat and mix in the ground walnuts. Add the raisins (drain these first) along with the vanilla sugar and grated orange zest.

When the loaves are ready to be cooked, remove from the refrigerator and knead each loaf lightly. Turn out onto a lightly-floured work surface and roll each one out to a 5mm thick rectangle. Spread your choice of filling over each rectangle, leaving a 2.5cm wide strip clear on the longer side. Now fold over a 3cm strip along the shorter sides of the dough (this helps prevent the stuffing from coming out) then roll the dough up by the longer side, swiss (jelly) roll fashion. Finish by moistening the uncovered strip of dough then pat this down to seal the edge of the dough. Brush the top of the roll with lightly-beaten egg then place on a baking tray and set aside to rest for 30 minutes.

Repeat this process with the remaining filling and dough. When they have rested for 30 minutes, brush the top of the dough with beaten egg (this helps glaze them). Allow the rolls to rest for 30 minutes more then prick the top of each one all over with a fork (this will help prevent cracking during cooking).

Transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C and bake for about 40 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely on the baking tray. Cut each roll into slices and serve.

If you do not want to serve immediately, wrap the rolls in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and store in a cool, dark, cupboard. They should keep for at least two weeks.

For Christmas they are traditionally iced before slicing and serving.

Beigli

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