Poppy seed strudel in filo pastry

This filo poppy seed strudel is a delicious new addition to Moje Wypieki. Do you believe that the more poppy seed filling a poppy seed roll has, the better? Do you love the crisp, flaky texture of baked filo pastry? Fancy trying something a little different? Or perhaps you simply don’t enjoy working with yeast dough? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, this recipe is definitely for you! It’s quick, straightforward and surprisingly easy to make.

Makes 2 filo poppy seed strudels.

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 8 sheets of filo pastry (1 × 250 g pack)
• clarified butter (ghee), for brushing

Ingredients for the poppy seed filling:

• 350 g poppy seeds
• 90 g caster sugar
• 60 ml honey
• 70 g raisins or sultanas
• 50 g walnuts, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons almond extract or almond flavouring
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 20 g butter, melted
• ½ cup candied orange peel
• 4 large egg whites

All the ingredients should be at room temperature.

Cover the poppy seeds with boiling water and leave to cool completely. Drain thoroughly, then grind the poppy seeds twice using a meat grinder fitted with a fine grinding plate. Alternatively, cover the poppy seeds with boiling water, simmer for 20 minutes, drain well, cool completely and grind twice. You can also use ready-ground poppy seeds, which are widely available. Simply cover them with boiling water, leave to cool, then squeeze out as much excess moisture as possible using a clean linen tea towel.

Mix the ground poppy seeds with the sugar, honey, raisins, walnuts, almond extract, cinnamon, melted butter and candied orange peel. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the filling. If the mixture seems too dry, fold in an additional whipped egg white. Divide the filling into two equal portions.

To assemble:

Work with one sheet of filo at a time, keeping the remaining sheets covered with a clean tea towel to prevent them from drying out. Place one 30 × 34 cm sheet of filo on your work surface and brush it lightly with clarified butter. Top with a second sheet and brush with butter again. Repeat with a third sheet. Place a fourth sheet on top, but do not brush it with butter. Spread half of the poppy seed filling evenly over the pastry, leaving about 2.5 cm clear around the edges. Roll up tightly like a Swiss roll and tuck the ends underneath. Repeat with the remaining filo sheets and filling. Brush both strudels with clarified butter and place them on a baking tray, leaving space between them.

Bake at 200°C for 35–40 minutes, or until crisp and deep golden brown. Leave to cool completely.

Before serving, dust lightly with icing sugar if desired. Slice with a serrated knife.

Enjoy!