Poppy seed braided bread

This poppy seed braid is a sweet, twisted yeast loaf filled with poppy seeds. It isn’t a traditional poppy seed roll (makowiec) – the filling is simply sweetened ground poppy seeds, so it can be served just like a challah: with your favourite jam or toasted and enjoyed with a glass of milk. The shaping is simple, the dough is soft and fluffy, and it’s the kind of sweet bread that will steal your heart :).

Ingredients for the yeast dough:

• 540 g strong white bread flour
• 80 g caster sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 10 g instant dry yeast or 20 g fresh yeast
• 75 g butter, melted
• 250 ml milk
• 2 large eggs

Mix the flour with the dry yeast (if using fresh yeast, prepare a starter first). Add the remaining ingredients and knead the dough, adding the melted butter towards the end. Knead until the dough becomes soft and elastic. Place in a lightly floured bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1½ hours.

Once risen, divide the dough into 8 equal pieces – four for each braid. Shape each piece into a ball, then roll each one into a long oval rather than a circle, so it can be rolled into a long rope. Spread one portion of the poppy seed filling over each piece and roll it up like a crêpe to form a long cylinder. You should end up with 8 filled ropes. Braid them into 2 loaves, using four ropes for each braid. Cover with a kitchen towel and leave to rise again for about 30 minutes, until doubled in size.

Just before baking, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with poppy seeds.

Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Ingredients for the poppy seed filling:

• 170 g ground poppy seeds
• 100 g caster sugar

Pour enough boiling water over the ground poppy seeds to cover them completely and leave to cool. Drain thoroughly, squeezing out as much excess water as possible, for example using a clean linen kitchen towel. Mix with the sugar and divide into 8 equal portions.

Additionally:

• 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water, for brushing
• poppy seeds, for sprinkling

Method for bread machine users:

Place all the yeast dough ingredients into the bread machine in the following order: liquid ingredients first, then dry ingredients, and finally the yeast. Select the ‘dough’ programme (kneading and first rise). Once the programme has finished, remove the dough, knead it lightly, and continue according to the main recipe above.

The poppy seed braided bread keeps well at room temperature in an airtight container and can also be frozen.

Enjoy!