Poppy Seed Roll

Dessert rolls, also called "Swiss rolls," are cakes or pastries of yeast bread with one or more fillings, either poppy seed or fruit. While still delicious and satisfying, these desserts rely more on texture, flavors and aromas rather than on high amounts of fat and sugar.

My Hungarian family serves this dessert at every winter and spring holiday, but my neighbors in Hoboken, N.J., claim that it's originally from medieval Slovenia since their relatives passed down a recipe from that origin to them.

Beigli is the Hungarian version of the dessert roll I grew up with, and we make it with ground walnuts and fragrant cinnamon or with dark, luscious poppy seeds boiled with spices and sugar to form a thick, sweet, spreadable paste. The filling is lower in calories and fat than chocolate spreads and doesn't contain preservatives. It has only 60 calories for one tablespoon and 1 1/2 grams of fat, but still has a rich, satisfying taste.

The store-bought paste makes for a nice alternative since finding the poppy seeds in bulk can be difficult and quite expensive. Two brands are Baker, which has a great texture and traditional poppy seed taste or Solo, which has the aroma of orange peel mixed with spices.

Poppy Seed Roll
Makes 4 large rolls, about 48 slices

1 1/4 cup trans-fat free, melted and slightly cooled
7 tablespoons sugar
1 1/4 cup non-fat, skim milk
1 large 6-ounce cake of fresh yeast or two (1/4 ounce) packets of dry yeast
4 egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 1/2 – 5 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cups powdered sugar for rolling out the dough
3 12-ounce cans of prepared poppy seed paste
nonstick cooking spray

Place the margarine in a small saucepan over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes until the margarine is melted. Pour 1/4 cup of the margarine into a small dish and set aside to brush the rolls once they are formed.

Place a stainless steel bowl directly on the stove over very low heat, with the sugar and 1/4 cup of the milk. Once the sugar dissolves, set aside to cool slightly before adding the yeast, the milk temperature should be between 72 to 85 degrees F, so that the heat from milk mixture doesn't kill the yeast. Crumble or sprinkle in the yeast when the milk has cooled slightly, but is still warm. Set aside for 1 to 2 minutes until the yeast begins to grow, then add the remaining milk, egg, 1 cup of the margarine and vanilla to the mixture.

Over the milk mixture, sift 4 1/2 cups the flour and salt. Gradually stir with a wooden spoon until a soft and slightly sticky dough (you might not need all the flour). Knead until the dough no longer clings to the fingers. Add more flour if the mixture is too sticky (remember that this is a dessert dough and should be lighter in texture than a bread dough).

Cut dough into 4 equal parts and wrap loosely in wax paper. Let rise in the fridge overnight or on the counter for 3 to 4 hours, until it has doubled in size. Dust your work surface with powdered sugar and roll out each piece of dough into a rectangular shape, 1/2 inch thickness, about 12 inches in length and 6 inches in width. To help you along with the next few steps, check out this slide show on rolling up the dough.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and coat two large cookie sheets without sides with cooking spray.

Add about 1/2 heaping cup of the poppy seed filling into the center of each dough piece, and spread out with a spatula, leaving a 1/2 inch space towards the edges. Once the filling is even distributed, gently pull up the edge closest to you and begin to roll the dough away from you, over the filling to form a log.

After you have rolled the dough into a tight cylinder, smooth the seam with your fingers. Transfer the log to a cookie sheet, seam down and tuck the two shorter edges under to seal. Repeat with remaining dough and remaining filling, until you have a total of four rolls, two per cookie sheet. Brush the tops of the rolls with the remaining 1/4 cup of margarine.

Bake 25-30 minutes until the rolls are browned lightly on top, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely, about 90 minutes. Wrap them tightly, so they don't dry out -- you can use a layer of wax paper followed by a layer of aluminum foil. Store on the counter top for up to 5 days tightly wrapped.

One serving (1 slice) : 176 calories, 7grams total fat, 1gram saturated fat, 87 milligram sodium, 25 grams carbohydrate, 3 grams protein.