Walnut and Poppy Seed rolls — Diós és Mákos kalács (bejgli)

At Christmas time we’d travel to visit Grandma and Grandpa and as soon as we walked into the front door of their house we would be overwhelmed by the mingling of smells coming out of the kitchen. Every surface available from the entryway down to the basement would have pans covered with clean cloths that would be hiding cookies, hoska, and other sweet breads,  and our favorite walnut and poppy seed rolls.

For the dough:

• 750 g/1 lb. 7 oz. Flour
• 350 g/12 oz. Butter
• 30 g/1 oz. Sugar
• pinch of salt
• 6 egg yolks
• 150 ml/ 5 fl. oz. Milk
• 15 g/half oz. yeast

Fr the walnut filling

• 80 g/3 oz. Honey
• 120-130 g/ 4 and half oz. Sugar
• 250 g/9 oz. ground walnuts
• 50 g/2 oz. finely chopped sultanas
• 1 T of rum
• cinnamon
• grated lemon peel

For the poppy seed filling

• 80 g/3 oz. Honey
• 125 g/ 4 and half oz. Sugar
• 250 g/9 oz. ground poppy seeds
• 1 T of rum
• grated lemon peel

Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk. Sieve the flour and salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter, add the sugar and the egg yolks and mix in the yeast in lukewarm milk. Blend well together and knead. Put aside to rest in a cold place for few hours. Then roll into rectangle and cut into strips. Spread with the walnut and poppy seed filling. Roll up, brush with egg white and bake in a moderately hot oven until golden brown.

To make the walnut filling, dissolve the sugar and honey in a saucepan over heat. Add the walnut and cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the sultanas and rum. Finally add the cinnamon and grated lemon peel to taste.

For the poppy seed filling, cook the honey, sugar and poppy seed in saucepan. Remove from heat and add the rum and lemon peel to taste.