janradder

There are two parts to this recipe -- the filling and the dough. Make the filling first.

Filling:

1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup poppyseeds
1 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
1/3 cup honey
1 t grated lemon peel
1 egg white, stiffly beaten

Pour boiling water over poppyseeds, let sit for a minute or two and drain. Cover the poppyseeds with the lukewarm water and let stand for 30 minutes. Drain thoroughly. Grind the poppyseeds in a food processor (or I suppose you could use a mortal and pestle, if you like that sort of thing). Stir in chopped nuts, honey and lemon peel. Fold in stiffly beaten egg white. Set aside and make the dough.

Dough:

6-7 cups unsifted flour
3 T sugar
1 t salt
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup water
1 cup butter
3 eggs (room temperature)

In large bowl, mix 2 cups of flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Combine sour cream, water, and butter in saucepan and heat to 120˚-130˚F. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and beat in egg and dry ingredients. Beat 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally. Stir in remaining flour one cup at a time until you have a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured board and knead a few times. Form dough into a ball, cover it with a towel, and let it rest for 10 minutes.

Divide dough into four pieces. Roll each out into a 14"x12" rectangle. Spread poppyseed filling on each to 1/2 inch from the edge. Roll up each from the long side as you would a jelly roll. Seal the edges and place on a greased baking sheet, sealed edges down. Cover with a towel and let the rolls rise in a warm place until they double in bulk (about 1 hour)

Bake at 350˚F for 35 minutes (check to make sure they aren't browning too quickly. If they are, turn the oven down to 325˚F). The poppyseed rolls should be nice and golden when they're done. Put them on a rack to cool (or eat them while they're still warm).