The rising time is what takes the longest in this sweet poppy seed bread recipe, but definitely worth it. I love the taste of marzipan in cake and in sweet bread recipes, so I’ve included marzipan in this loaf. It is of course optional if you cant find it in your local grocery store. You can also make your own with this recipe, https://www.urbanwhisk.com/marzipan

Because I totally miscalculated the amount of poppy seeds I needed, I did half the loaf with a nut filling that I use for my Nut bread . https://www.urbanwhisk.com/nut-bread/ and just twisted the two logs together.

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Poppy Seed Bread

Course: Yeast Bread

Ingredients

Basic yeast dough:

¼ cup butter
1 cup milk
2 table spoons active dry yeast
¼ cup sugar
2 eggs beaten, lightly
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

Filling:

1 ¼ cup poppy seeds ground
1 ¾ cups milk
⅓ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup raisins chopped
¼ cup cornstarch
1 egg separated and beaten
icing sugar

Optional:

200 gram marzipan

Instructions

Dough preparation:
Warm the milk in a saucepan to 115°F, add butter and stir until butter melts. Let cool slightly. Mix in the rest of the ingredients but only 3 cups of the flour. Stir to make a stiff dough that comes away from the sides of the bowl. On a floured surface knead dough for 8-10 minutes using more flour as needed to keep dough from sticking to counter. Knead, until dough becomes elastic. Lightly grease dough and the bowl, cover with a towel or plastic wrap, until doubled in size.
While the dough is rising, prepare the filling.
To make the filling, gently boil the poppy seeds and 1 1/4 cups milk in a saucepan. lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. stir in sugar and raisins. Blend the cornstarch with the remaining 1/2 cup milk until smooth. then add to the poppy seed mixture along with the egg yolk. Stir until thickened, simmer, dont boil. Remove from heat and let cool.
On a floured surface roll the dough into about a 16" x 16" rectangle. Halve the dough length wise. So now you will have two 8" x 16" pieces. Spread the filling over both pieces of rolled out dough leaving a 1/2 inch without filling on the edges. If using marzipan, roll the marzipan the length of one of the rectangles, about 15' and as thick as a hotdog. Lay the marzipan in the middle of one of the rectangles before rolling up the dough. Roll the dough up from the long end so you'll end up with two 16' long pieces. Join the 2 ends gently pinching the dough together, then twist the rolls over each other. Attach other end by pinching, then tuck both ends under. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, cover with towel or plastic wrap rise until doubled.
Preheat oven to 350°F Brush with the beaten egg white before baking.
Bake 30 – 35 minutes until glden brown.
When cool, remove from baking sheet and sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.
*When rolling out dough, the given measurements are just a guide. Don't make the dough paper thin. about a 1/4" thick is good so that dough doesnt rip when handling.