Vegan poppy seed roll
Vegan poppy seed roll
How are you, guys? Are you Xmas ready yet? As usual, I feel nowhere near ready and I keep on thinking that there is still plenty of time to get presents etc. until I take a look at a calendar and I am in shock at how wrong I am. This is why Duncan often laughs that my perception of time is not the most accurate. I get caught out by things.
I tell him that when you don’t have a regular 9-5 job and an office to go to, it is very often quite hard to tell a regular working day from the weekend. Take this week for example. Because Duncan is away until early next week and the weather is currently dreadful, I will probably be working on Sunday as, according to the latest weather forecast, it will be sunny (I’m not holding my breath) and I am still holding out for the magic of natural light. So yeah, as the Latin saying on the wall of our physics classroom said ‘panta rei’ (everything flows). Never thought I would say this, but Heraclitus was right 😛 . Life defies being put in the boxes we so love!
So now that I gave my absentmindedness a bit of a philosophical overtone, let me put your mind at rest. I am vaguely aware that we have entered what is often referred to as the festive period and I do have 5 cracking and very Xmassy recipes up my sleeve. I shall be posting them on here between now and the day when we all eat ourselves silly. After that, it will all be about slimming foods as I reckon we will need that…
Today’s recipe is a bit of a punt as I bet that many of you are not familiar with poppy seed roll at all, but as it is one of the traditional Xmas cakes I grew up with, I figured it’s high time I veganised it. I am really pleased with the result and judging by how quickly it disappeared after I shared it with our friends who weren’t familiar with it either, I hope you’ll like it too. It’s really easy to make with the exception of the need to grind poppy seeds. I know, I know, it does sound like a pain, but don’t be tempted to use unground poppy seeds, I beg you.
Sadly for us vegans, the best equipment for grinding poppy seeds well is one of those old fashioned cast iron meat grinders, which I do not own (for obvious reasons), but my cheap coffee grinder did a good enough job. It is also possible to buy ground poppy seeds in some shops – especially Polish, Russian, German and Isreali delis – as using ground poppy seeds in baked goods is a fairly common thing in those cuisines.
- 150 g / 1 heaped cup blue poppy seeds
- 120 ml / ½ cup almond (or other thin plant) milk
- 2 tsp coconut oil or vegan butter
- 2 tbsp coconut cream
- 70 g / 1/3 cup sugar (I used demerara)
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
- 34 g / scant ¼ cup raisins, soaked in boiling water for 15 min and chopped
- 30 g / ¼ cup chopped walnuts
- 20 g / ¼ cup chopped candied orange peel
- 1 heaped tbsp ground chia or flax seeds
DOUGH
- 125 g / 1 cup all purpose flour, sifted
- 7 g / 2 tsp instant yeast
- a good pinch of turmeric, for colour (optional)
- a pinch of salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 60 ml / ¼ cup lukewarm plant milk
- 25 g / 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
ICING
- 50-100 g / ½-1 cup icing sugar
- water
- Grind your poppy seeds finely in a coffee or spice grinder or an old-fashioned meat grinder*, which actually works best. Failing that, you should be able to buy already ground poppy seeds online or in some Polish, Russian and German delicatessens, as poppy seed filling is commonly used in these countries’ Xmas dishes.
- Place the ground poppy seeds in a medium size bowl and bring the almond milk to a gentle boil. As soon as it boils, pour it over the poppy seeds and cover the bowl with an upside down large plate. Set aside for 15 minutes for the poppy seeds to soften.
- Mix in the coconut oil (it should melt right in), coconut cream, sugar (I ground it up a little bit too), cinnamon, vanilla, chopped raisins, nuts, candied orange and ground up chia (or flax) seeds. Mix everything really well and set aside in the fridge, to thicken.
DOUGH
- Place the sifted flour, yeast, turmeric, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
- Add the lukewarm plant milk and mix it into the dry ingredients with a spoon.
- Next, mix in the melted (but not hot) coconut oil.
- Once a rough dough forms, knead it for 10 minutes like you would knead bread. Initially, the dough may appear too oily, but soon enough the excess oil will get absorbed by the flour and the dough will become easier to handle. Sprinkle the kneading surface with a little more flour if it’s too sticky.
- Once you are done kneading and the dough is elastic and smooth, place it in a bowl and cover it with a kitchen towel. Set aside in a warm place for 1.5-2 hrs, until it doubles in size.
- Just before you are ready to roll out your dough, heat up the oven to 180° C / 355° F.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, roll the dough out into a large, 3 mm thick rectangle.
- Spread the filling on the surface of the rolled out dough leaving a 2 cm margin on all sides.
- Roll the dough up into a log and then wrap it in a long (it should be long enough to go around the log twice) strip of baking paper, leaving an index finger wide gap between the log and the paper so that the cake is able to rise a little.
- Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, cut the baking paper off and allow the log to cool off.
- Apply the icing to the warm (but not hot) cake and decorate with poppy seeds.
ICING
- Whisk the icing sugar and a small amount of water in a medium size bowl until fully combined. Adjust the amount of water to achieve a consistency you like.
I'm sorry to hear that the roll didn't come out quite right. It sounds to me like there were two issues. Firstly, the dough failed to rise. Provided your yeast wasn't stale, the dough probably needed to rest a little longer - maybe your ambient temperature was quite cool? As for the filling tasting bitter, this would be your poppyseeds. It's a known issue especially if you bought pre-ground poppyseeds and they have been sitting around (in your house or in the store) for a while. Poppy seeds have high fat content and as such are prone to going rancid unfortunately. I'm sorry, I know it's discouraging but hopefully you'll nail it next time. Ania
You do not specify, but I am assuming we are talking about the filling component here. Is it coming wetter than in my photos - see the one where I am showing how to spread it on a rolled out dough? If so, simply use less plant milk, start off with half (60 ml) and add more if you need to. For me the ratios where perfect, but maybe there are some differences between our poppy seeds and yours are less absorbent or something. Hope this helps! x Ania
That's lovely to hear and I hope that you'll enjoy it! I would say yes, but because coconut cream is far thicker/fattier, I would add an extra 1-2 tsp (5-10 g) of vegan butter (coconut oil) to ensure you get more or less the same amount of fat. Hope this helps! Ania
Is it better if served immediately? How do you suggest storing it? Hoping to bring to a friend’s house and trying to decide when I should do the baking.
Thanks so much!
Like most bakes, it's probably the nicest fresh but it does not need to be served straight after baking at all, in fact it's good to let it set first. Storage-wise, an air-tight container in a cool place would be ideal. Hope you'll enjoy it! x Ania
I have only active dry yeast. Would the recipe work if I let it activate as usually and then mix it with the dry ingredients?
Thanks!
I have not tried so it's hard for me to be 100% sure but it may be a good idea to make a light caramel from the sugar and vegan butter (use 4 tbsp perhaps and skip coconut cream) to hold the nuts together well or else you may end up with a crumbly filling. You may also need to use less plant milk, but you'll need to go by feel. Good luck! x Ania
I'm very happy to hear that you've made this cake several times and enjoyed it, thank you for letting me know. I'll be honest, I have not personally tried freezing it but I don't see why it would not work. I would recommend perhaps slicing it and separating individual slices with some baking paper so that you can defrost a slice here and there when a sudden hankering strikes you :) x Ania
Delicious recipe :)
I am hoping to try this recipe this week. I was wondering if any oil can be used for the dough in place of coconut oil?
Traditionally, butter is used in this kind of recipe to enrich the dough, which is why I opted for odourless coconut oil - it has similar consistency. I would say that vegan 'butter' would be my second choice, but liquid oil should work ok too. Hope it works out well. Ania
Also, is instant yeast the same as fast action yeast (found in sachets)?
Thanks.
No, I have not tested it with any other flour, I'm afraid. I don't think that a non-gluten (oat, buckwheat) flour would work on its own, you would need to change the recipe to compensate for the lack of gluten and even then I am not sure how it would fare. You could do add some whole wheat flour, but it's coarse and not that pleasant to eat, especially when it comes to cakes. It's more suitable for breads in general. No, they are not the same. Fast action yeast requires prior activation and instant yeast can be added to the flour directly as is, they both come in sachets. Hope this helps! Ania
Just so I don't mess up - because I've forgotten what I used last year - is coconut cream the solid stuff from a can of coconut milk?
Thanks for the awesome recipe.
Could this be baked in a loaf pan instead of using the parchment paper? Is the paper used to keep it in the log shape, or to keep it from browning too early?
Thanks,
Michelle
The paper is designed to make it keep its shape mainly. I feel that if you were to do that (skip the paper and place it in the tin directly), the cake might mould to the shape of the tin. I wouldn't personally take that risk but if you are feeling brave, why not. It could be fine. Hope this helps! Ania
The parchment paper needs to be simply rolled around the cake (with a little slack) so that the cake keeps its shape during baking. The ends do not need to be wrapped but it is good if the paper is the width of the cake so that the entire cake browns at the same rate, if you leave the ends out they may brown a little quicker. So basically wrap it around and before you seal the paper make sure you can fit your index finger between the cake and the paper - that's the slack needed for the cake to rise. Hope this helps! Ania
I have Hungarian and Serbian roots, and I was introduced to all sort of savoury dishes when I was a kid. However, for some reasons sweets weren't passed on. But I did discover poppy-based pastries on trips to Hungary and Czechia and my mind was blown! Thanks for allowing me to recreate this one. I tweaked the filling a bit and used olive oil instead of coconut for the dough and it all came pretty nicely; it's been dubbed "the most Austrian sweet that they've had in a long time" by an expatriate Austrian ;)
The quantity of dough seemed a bit off compared to the filling, I followed the recipe instead of my instinct but I couldn't put everything inside (had to eat the remaining filling straight from the bowl, he he) and it was nowhere near 3-mm thick. I'll probably double it next time (and use it for other purposes, it's a really nice dough!).
Thanks for your comments, it sounds delicious although I am not as familiar with it as I am with poppy seed one (had it only once or twice). I will put it on my list for next year. Ania
I'm glad to hear that you are planning to make this and I hope you'll enjoy it! No, the paper is to keep the roll neat and stop it from splitting. I bake it on a baking tray after the paper is in place. Hope that helps! Ania
Hmmm, not sure. Is it possible that your yeast may be quite old? Or the wrong type maybe? The one that requires activation first, for example. I am so glad it was still tasty despite the issues with your dough. x Ania
I have not tried as I don't have a blender like that, unfortunately so I'm not 100 % sure how well it would work. I imagine that you would need to soak the poppy seeds in warm milk / water first, blend and then drain excess moisture using a cloth. Good luck! I hope it will work out well. Ania
I'm not sure as I have never used it, but from what I've read it is a bit tricky when it comes to getting the kneading right so you may want to read up on that before deciding. Ania
Oj, chyba kiepsko to wyjaśniłam (zaraz poprawię). Na sucho jeśli tak jak ja mielisz w młynku do kawy bo inaczej się zepsuje, ale jeśli masz maszynkę do mięsa to mak zaparz najpierw a potem zmiel. Mam nadzieję, że zasmakuje Ci moja wersja! Ania