Poppyseed-Yeast Bread (Mohnstriezel)

This yeast bread is filled with poppy seeds and is a very traditional German baked good. One can frequently find it in bakeries where it is sold in slices.

Ingredients:

Baking sheet

Parchment paper

Yeast dough:

200 ml milk or water

50 g butter or margarine

500 g wheat flour

1 package dry yeast

75 g sugar (50 g when milk is used)

1 package vanilla sugar or some vanilla aroma

Some extra flour for kneading

Filling:

300 g poppy seeds

400 ml milk

1 package vanilla pudding powder or JELL-O cook and serve

100 ml milk

2 eggs

75 g sugar (no sugar needed when JELL-O is used because JELL-O already contains sugar)

75 g cornflakes (or Zwieback)

Crumble:

100 g wheat flour

75 g sliced almonds

75 g sugar

75 g soft butter

Glaze:

4 tablespoons apricot jam

1 tablespoon water

100 g powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons water

Preparation:

1. Heat up water or milk in a stovetop pot or in the microwave until lukewarm. Melt butter or margarine in warm liquid.

2. Add flour to a medium sized bowl, and mix with dry yeast. Add remaining ingredients including the warm liquid and with the knead hooks of an electric hand mixer mix dough until a soft dough has formed (about 5 minutes). Cover dough and let rise in a warm place until about doubled in size.

3. Prepare the filling: Bring poppy seeds and 400 ml milk to a boil in a stovetop pot. Remove pot from heat and let sit for 10 minutes to soften poppy seeds. Mix 100 ml milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla pudding powder, add to poppy seeds and while stirring bring to a brief boil, then remove from heat and cool down. Add cornflakes or Zwieback to a plastic bag, seal the bag and crush into small pieces with a rolling pin. Stir crushed cornflakes or Zwieback under poppy seeds.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 F).

5. Sprinkle some flour on yeast dough, and knead thoroughly on a floured surface. Roll dough out flat to a rectangle of about 40 x 30 cm (15 x 12 inches).

6. Spread poppy seed mixture onto dough leaving 1 cm or 1/2 inch of the edge free. Starting from the longer side roll dough up. Don't roll it too tight! Put rolled up dough with the facing up onto baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

7. Prepare crumble: Add flour, sugar, almonds and soft butter to a bowl. Using an electric hand mixer mix until crumbles of desired size have formed.

8. Coat surface of yeast bread with some water, then cover with crumbles, slightly pushing the crumbles into the yeast dough to make them stick.

9. Let yeast bread rise at a warm place until its size has significantly increased, then bake yeast bread at 180 degrees Celsius (350 F) for about 1 hour.

10. Apricot glaze: Push apricot jam through a fine mesh, mix in water and coat the yeast bread immediately after removing it from the oven. Let bread cool. Mix powdered sugar and water until a thick liquid has formed, and sprinkle over bread.

Comments:

1. This yeast bread is a great breakfast or afternoon treat. This recipe is enough for one very large or two smaller loafs. It freezes well, and when reheated in a toaster oven it tastes as it had been prepared just minutes ago.