Makovnjaca

Ingredients:

For the dough:

• Flour, 600 gr
• Butter (melted), 150 gr
• Sugar, 100 gr
• Milk, 200 ml
• Instant yeast, 2 envelopes
• Salt, 1/2 tsp
• Egg yolks, 4

For the filling:

• Ground poppy seed, 2 cups
• Milk, 1/2 cup
• Sugar, 1/2 cup
• Raisins, 3 tbs
• Jam or Honey (we used honey), 4 tbs
• Ground cinnamon, 1/2 tsp
• Grated lemon zest, from 1 lemon
• Rum, 1 tbs

Preparation:

For the dough:

Dissolve the sugar and yeast in lukewarm milk and leave for 15 minutes.

Combine flour, yeast, butter, salt, and egg yolks to make a dough.

Knead dough until it is elastic and smooth.

Cover and let stand in a warm place until double in bulk, about 2 hours.

For the filling: 

Cook the poppy seeds and milk until thick, about 30 minutes.

Stir in the jam (or honey), lemon rind, raisins and rum. Let cool.

Spread flour on a large table-cloth. Divide the dough in half.

Roll each piece out very thin (on the table-cloth) and fill with poppy seed filling.

Roll up like a jelly roll, using the edge of the table-cloth to assist in the rolling.

Pour 100 ml of oil in the loaf pan . Place the rolls into the pan. Put in refrigerator over night.

Brush the rolls with melted butter.

Bake in a previously pre-heated oven at 175 °C for about 40 minutes or until golden.

Cool in the pan before slicing and serving.