So after months of excitement, preparation, Christmas shopping, Christmas cooking, Christmas is officially over. Thursday was my first day at work after the Christmas break. Christmas decorations were taken down and Christmas tree was left naked in the corner. It was quite a sad sight. I feel in between seasons now, we had winter, then Christmas, and now are we back into the winter time? Some of you probably still eat leftovers. I know I would if I didn’t freeze some of them. I still have a few recipes that I didn’t manage to post before Christmas, but they will be pretty handy next year, or even this year.
We spent New Year Eve with a few Italian friends and in Italy if you want to be wealthy in an upcoming year you should eat lentils and pomegranate. In Polish tradition poppy seed is doing the same for you, you should just eat it during Christmas Eve, but I think if you catch up in January it will still work.
Poppy seed roll (makowiec)
Traditional Polish poppy seed strudel, usually made for Christmas. Poppy seed is said to bring luck.
Poppy seed filling
- 330g poppy seeds
- 112g light brown sugar
- 65g raisins or sultanas
- 33g walnuts, chopped
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp almond extract
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
- 1/3 cup candied orange zest
- 4 egg whites
Dough
- 30g fresh yeast or 14g instant yeast
- 320g plain flour + extra for sprinkling
- 4 Tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp strong alcohol like vodka or rum
- 3/4 tsp vanilla paste
- 4 egg yolks
- 120ml milk, lukewarm
- 100g butter, melted and cooled down
Magda's Cauldron 