Old world Poppy Seed Strudel

[lorisunshine]

I am gifting to all of you my 'secret' family recipe for our annual Christmas treat.

Yeast dough:
500 gr. all purpose flour
1 heaped tablespoon of dry yeast
100 gr. sugar
Pinch of salt
1/8 to 1/4 lukewarm milk or cream
80 to 125 gr. unsalted butter
1 whole egg at room temp.
Grated lemon peel,
Vanilla and rum.

Dissolve the yeast in a few table spoons of lukewarm milk.

Make a well in the flour and loosely mix in the yeast starter.
Warm the butter and the milk to lukewarm and pour it over the flour and then put in the egg.
Mix everything together, dump out on a board and kneed until it does not stick to the board anymore and makes slight blisters. If it still sticks try to incorporate a little flour at a time or do it in a kitchen aid machine. Pat the dough together and keep it in a warm, draft free place until it has doubled in bulk.
Punch it down (that’s my favorite part) and kneed it for another couple of minutes.

Cut the dough in half and roll out one half into a thin rectangle. Brush it with liquefied butter and spread the filling on it. First flip in each side and the gently roll it up. Transfer to a cookie sheet and let it rise once more until double in bulk.
Bake in a preheated 350 to 375 F. for about 35 minutes. While it is still warm brush the top with a glaze made of powder sugar and lemon juice. This will keep it moist without adding too much sweetness.

Poppy Seed Filling:
Grind about 500 gr. Of poppy seeds
or run it through a coffee grinder in small batches, pulsing the grinder repeatedly. Do not over grind.
250 gr. Sugar,
½ liter of milk,
200 gr. Of raisins (I soak them overnight)
2 tablespoons Rum
Ground lemon peel
100 gr. Of coarsely chopped Hazelnuts or Almonds.

Bring milk and sugar to a low boil, add the poppy seeds and lemon rind, cook briefly until it thickens. Let this cool, and then add Rum, raisins and nuts.
This recipe makes 2 good size strudels.

Enjoy, it is delicious!

[tawnyfrog]

Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Cinders]

Lori,

This is a recipe made for me. I so much love making bread.

It sounds absolutely delicious EXCEPT for the raisins. Do you have any ideas about other fruit that might work? I am thinking dried apricots, or dried apples cut up? My family hates raisins... hmm.. dried cranberries?? Any other great ideas?

I really do want to make this, it sounds delicious AND gives me the chance to knead some dough, which is one of the few things in life I love to do, besides which, poppy seeds are another one of my favorite things...

Cindi

[lorisunshine]

Hi Cindi,
just drop the raisins and load up on more nuts. As poppy seed has a rather delicate flavor, the apricots may overpower it. Did you know that kneading dough gives you perky boobs.
Let me know how it turns out.
Lori

[amethyst]

Lori, this sounds divine! I LOVE poppy seed anything. What is the standard for grams vs cups? Is it a weight based measurement that I *MUST* weigh, or can I translate into cups without weighing? Thanks-can't wait to try it....

[Cinders]

Lori,

Perky breasts? At my age. I have lost a lot of weight and am an old gal. I went from 44 DDs (don't know about Euro sizing) to 36 C longs. I could knead bread all day and not get any perkiness..

Amethyst,

Just google on the conversion. You can do cups versus grams, which is what I am going to do.

This does look like a really good recipe. I think my family will love it and I will love making it, WHEN I GET HOME, and can do it. Grrrrrr, so pissed about being on the road this week...


Cindi

[lorisunshine]

Hi Girls,
I think that it would be best to convert the gramms into ounces first. This receipe is weight based. I don't quite know how to go about converting it into "hollow measure", as in cups. Perhaps Det can help.

Cindi, that's ok. Your mammalian endowments will get perkier, believe me.

[Determinator]

I don't do math! sorry, have to find a conversion chart someplace.

Lori, this looks simply evil yummy!

[KateH1]

Lori,
Thank you for this recipe, it sounds delicious! I will be making this for New Years!
Kate