Cranberry-Mohn-Schnecken (cranberry poppy seed rolls)

Method

1. Whisk the flour, sugar, yeast and salt together. Add the warm milk, egg and softened butter, and mix to a soft dough, then knead by hand on a floured surface for 8 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
2. Cover and prove in a warm place for 60 minutes, until roughly doubled.
3. Grind the poppy seeds finely in a spice grinder or food processor, in batches if needed; whole poppy seeds pass through undigested and give up almost no flavour.
4. Combine the ground poppy seeds, milk, sugar and butter in a small pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, for 5 minutes, until thickened to a spreadable paste. Stir in the cranberries and cinnamon and let cool to room temperature.
5. Roll the risen dough out on a floured surface to a rectangle about 40 by 30 cm. Spread the cooled poppy seed filling evenly over it, leaving a 1 cm border on one long edge.
6. Roll up tightly from the filled long edge, pinch the seam to seal, and slice into 12 even rounds with a sharp knife or dental floss pulled through.
7. Arrange cut-side up in a lined baking dish, spaced with room to expand, cover loosely, and prove 30 minutes.
8. Bake at 190°C for 22 to 25 minutes, until deep golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in the dish.
9. Whisk the icing sugar with lemon juice or water to a thin glaze and drizzle over the warm rolls.

Method in the Thermomix

Written for a TM5 or TM6, 2.2 litre bowl. This covers grinding the poppy seeds and kneading the dough; filling assembly and baking are as in the hand method.

1. Poppy seeds into the dry bowl. Grind 1 min / speed 10. Tip out and set aside for the filling.
2. Flour, sugar, yeast and salt into the bowl. Add the warm milk, egg and butter. Knead 3 min / dough mode.
3. Tip out, prove and continue by hand from step 3 of the hand method: cook the poppy seed filling on the stovetop as described, then fill, roll, slice and bake as above.

Notes

• Grind the poppy seeds just before using them. Ground poppy seed loses aroma quickly; whole seeds keep far longer in the cupboard and are worth grinding fresh each time.
• Let the poppy seed filling cool fully before spreading. A warm filling melts the butter in the dough and makes rolling messy.
• Dental floss gives a cleaner cut than a knife for slicing the rolled log, since it does not compress the spiral the way a blade can.
• They keep for 2 days at room temperature, covered, and freeze well unglazed for up to 2 months.

Ingredient substitutions

• Dried cranberries can be raisins or chopped dried apricots.
• Poppy seeds are the essential ingredient here and have no real substitute; if unavailable, this becomes a different roll entirely.
• Icing glaze can be swapped for a light dusting of icing sugar if a less sweet finish is preferred.