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Enriched dough, known as “Hefeteig”, is an absolute staple that underlies the majority of classic German Bakes! You can find Hefeteig used in bakes of all shapes and sizes, and they will either be plain or filled. One very popular filling is poppy seed (“Mohn” in German), so today I am sharing with you a recipe for a poppy seed-filled German enriched dough – the Mohnstrietzel.
The below recipe makes a very large Mohnstrietzel that could easily serve around 12 people. Perfect for big gatherings with family or friends (once COVID-19 rules allow it, of course), but it also keeps well wrapped in tinfoil or a freezer bag for a few days. You can also freeze part of the Mohnstrietzel once it has cooled so that you have something ready when you need it!
How to make Hefeteig
As I said, Hefeteig is a German classic and used as the base of many German baking recipes, many of which I have previously posted on my blog: Bienestich (Bee Sting) Cake, Nusszopf, Franzbrötchen (think cinnamon buns meat croissant), Nussschnecken or this Festive Neujahrsbrezel for New Year’s Eve.
Because Hefeteig is a type of “enriched” dough, it contains a few more ingredients than the usual flour, water and yeast you’d use to make a normal bread dough. To add the “richness” to the Hefeteig for this Mohnstrietzel recipe, the dough is made with milk (instead of water), sugar, an egg and some butter. These ingredients can slow down the development of the yeast, which is why it is important to knead the dough for long enough and leave it longer to prove.
Of course, yeast is also a key component, as Hefeteig literally translates to “yeast dough”. I use fresh yeast in this recipe, as this is the preferred type of yeast in Germany and yields better results in my opinion. Most UK supermarkets (e.g. Morrisons, ASDA) sell fresh yeast in the fridge section or from the in-store bakery. If you cannot find fresh yeast you can also use dried fast-action yeast, however I would always recommend using fresh yeast if you can.
Ground Poppy Seeds – Is it worth investing in a Spice Grinder?
I have made this recipe a few times before and I have just used poppy seeds straight from a bag I bought in the supermarket (e.g. ASDA or Morrisons). Most traditional German recipes would recommend using ground poppy seeds, but these are not readily available in UK supermarkets (at least not to my knowledge).
Recently, I invested in a coffee/spice grinder, so I decided to use it to grind my poppy seeds and make this recipe again. And while it worked okay with whole poppy seeds in the past, finely grinding them made ALL THE DIFFERENCE! Ground poppy seeds can bind fluid a lot better so made the filling a lot thicker and spreadable, thus making it easier to work with. It does work without grinding the seeds, but I would highly recommend investing in a coffee/spice grinder – it’s actually so much fun and you can use it for many other things.
I bought this one from a brand called Muzili, and so far I think it is really good. It was perfect for grinding the poppy seeds, easy to clean, didn’t make a lot of noise, and it is quite small and easy to store.
How to make the Poppy Seed Filling
“Mohn” in German means poppy seeds, so of course this Mohnstrietzel contains poppy seeds as its star ingredient!
As I said, the poppy seed filling works best if you use ground poppy seeds. You may want to consider investing in a spice grinder (see above), as it is difficult to buy ground poppy seeds in the supermarket here in the UK. If they are available to buy wherever you are, then obviously please feel free to do so!
You may also be able to buy poppy seed fillings for baking that are ready made. In German for example, you can buy a ready-made poppy seed filling for baking called “Mohnback/Mohnfix”. So you could also use that if you wanted.
I, however, am unable to buy anything so have developed my own recipe for the filling. I make it almost as if it were a poppy seed “custard”. Milk is brought to the boil and flavoured with sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest, before being thickened with cornflour and the ground poppy seeds. Finally, I also melt 200g of marzipan into the filling, which helps thicken the mixture as well as give it the most amazing flavour!
The Finishing Touches
While the finishing touches for this Mohnstrietzel aren’t absolutely essential, they really make all the difference and just add that certain something to the bake…
First, the Mohnstrietzel (once filled and folded) is topped with a crumble that has flaked almonds in it. The almonds caramelise nicely on top of the Mohnstrietzel and add a bit of crunch, and the small pieces of crumble are just delicious – who doesn’t love crumble.
Once the Mohnstrietzel is baked and still warm, I also like to brush with a little bit of apricot jam. This adds a bit of sticky sweetness and complements the poppy seed filling really well! I am a big fan of apricot jam in baking actually – I think it goes really well with chocolate cake in particular, for example, in this Best-ever Chocolate Fudge Cake, or to help stick the marzipan to my Coffee and Walnut Battenberg.
Finally, the Mohnstrietzel is drizzled with some lemon icing – both for the aesthetics and the extra sweetness.
How to fold + shape the Mohnstrietzel
More German Baking Recipes
Having grown up in Germany, I have had a lot of exposure to German baking and have very much enjoyed baking things traditional to the country. There are loads more recipes for other German Baking Classics on my blog, so make sure to check out some of my favourites listed below:
- Black Forest Gateau | “Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte”
- Laugenbrezeln | German Pretzels
- Baked Chocolate Cheesecake | “Russischer Zupfkuchen”
- Seeded and Carrot Loaf | “Muntermacher”
- Strawberry Flan Cake | “Erdbeerboden”
- Marbled Traybake with Cherries and Chocolate | “Donauwellen”
- Beesting Cake | “Bienenstich”
- Enriched Dough Plait filled with Chocolate and Nuts | “Nusszopf”
- German Baked Cheesecake | “Käsekuchen”
- Bauernbrot | Classic German Bread Baking
- “Haselnussbrot” – Hazelnut Shortbread Biscuits dipped in Chocolate
- Chocolate-Orange Crescent Biscuits | Schoko-Orangen Kipferl
- Plum Crumble Cake | Zwetschenkuchen mit Streuseln
- Kirschlikuchen | Cherry and Chocolate Cake
- Neujahrsbrezel | Enriched Dough Plait for New Year’s Day
- Laugenzöpfe | German Breakfast Rolls
- Chocolate and Hazelnut Bundt Cake | Nusskuchen mit Nussglasur
Mohnstrietzel | Poppy Seed Roll | German Baking Classic
Recipe
Ingredients:
FOR THE DOUGH (HEFETEIG):
- 500g flour
- 75g caster sugar
- Pinch of salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 42g (1 cube) fresh yeast (or 7g dried fast-action yeast)
- 250ml milk, lukewarm
- 1 medium egg
- 80g butter, melted
FOR THE POPPY SEED FILLING:
- 200g poppy seeds, ground
- 300ml milk
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste
- 50g caster sugar
- 30g cornflour
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 200g marzipan, grated
FOR THE CRUMBLE:
- 100g butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 100g flour
- 50g caster sugar
- 100g flaked almonds
TO FINISH:
- 3 tbsp of apricot jam
- 100g icing sugar
- Juice of 1 lemon
YOU WILL ALSO NEED:
- Coffee/Spice Grinder (optional but highly recommended)
- Small off-set palette knife (optional)
Method:
- Start by preparing the poppy seed filling. Grind the poppy seeds in a coffee/spice grinder until very fine. You may need to do this in small batches. If you do not have a coffee/spice grinder you can also use them whole, but it may make it more difficult for the poppy seed filling to thicken. Therefore, I would highly recommend investing in a grinder – it´s so much fun and there are a lot of other things you can use it for!
- Add the cornflour and lemon zest to a small bowl. Then pour in a quarter of the milk and stir until dissolved. Pour the remaining milk into a saucepan, add the caster sugar, vanilla bean paste and bring to the boil.
- Once boiling, add in the ground poppy seed and starch mix and boil for a further 1-2 minutes until thickened, stirring continuously. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated marzipan until melted into the poppy seed filling. Then set aside to cool.
- Next, make the dough. Crumble the yeast in the lukewarm milk and whisk until dissolved. Measure all the other ingredients apart from the butter into a bowl, pour in the milk-yeast-mixture and start kneading with the dough hook attachment of an electric hand mixer. Once the dough starts to come together, add in the melted butter.
- Knead the dough for about 5-10 minutes until smooth and glossy, and it starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl to form a ball. Cover with some clingfilm and leave to prove for an hour or until doubled in size.
- To make the crumble, make all of the ingredients into a bowl and rub the dry ingredients into the butter until they form breadcrumbs. Don’t make them too small as you want o keep some larger pieces. Chill in the fridge until needed.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and line a large baking tray with baking paper.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and push it down with your fingertips into a rough rectangle. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough into a large rectangle, about 60×40 cm.
- Dollop the cooled poppy seed mixture over the dough and spread out evenly across the surface using a palette knife or the back of a metal spoon.
- Fold the shorter ends over by about 2cm, followed by the longer edges to neaten up the edges and shape it into more of a rectangle (see photos above). Then fold the top half down once (about 10 cm) and repeat a second time. Then do the same from the bottom so that the two folded ends meat in the middle (again, see photos). Push together a little and neaten, then carefully lift the Mohnstrietzel onto the prepared baking tray.
- Next, scatter the flaked almond crumble over the Mohnstrietzel in an even layer.
- Bake the Mohnstrietzel in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden brown. If the top is browning too quickly, cover the Mohnstrietzel with tinfoil and return to the oven to finish baking.
- Just before the end of the baking time, gently warm the apricot jam in a small saucepan or the microwave to make it a bit runnier. Mix together the icing sugar and lemon juice in a bowl to make a thick icing (you may need to add a bit of water too, depending on the size of your lemon).
- Remove the Mohnstrietzel from the oven and carefully transfer to a wire cooling rack. Brush it with the warmed apricot jam, then drizzle over the lemon icing. Leave to cool completely (about 1 hour) before cutting and serving. Enjoy!
