Poppy Seed or Nut Roll

4 cups flour           
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
8 tsp. sugar
1 pkg. yeast (2 tsp. sugar in yeast)
3/4 cup scalded milk
5 egg yolks (reserve whites for filling)
2 tsp. vanilla

Cut butter into flour.  Dissolve yeast, milk, and sugar.  Beat egg yolks and add vanilla.  Combine with flour mixture and yeast mixture.  Mix well.  Let sit ten minutes, covered.  Cut dough into 3 parts.  Put each part on floured board and roll out well until 1/4 inch thick.  Spread on 1/3 of filling and roll from long side like jelly roll.  Lay rolls on baking sheet.  Two can fit on one sheet.  Let rise for 2 hours.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven and brush top with melted butter. Cool.  When ready to serve, dust with powdered sugar, and cut in slices.

Poppy Seed Filling:

3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/2 lb. poppy seeds, ground
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 Tbsp. flour

Bring milk and butter to boil.  Add sugar and poppy seeds.  Cook 15 minutes on slow heat.  Mix with wooden spoon.  Sift flour into mixture and cook a couple of minutes.  Cool.

Nut Filling:

1 lb. ground walnuts or pecans
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk
5 egg whites

Cook nuts, sugar, and milk together 5 minutes.  Cool to lukewarm.  Beat egg whites until stiff.  Fold into cooked nut mixture.  Enough for 3 rolls.

This is my mother-in-law, Victoria Piotrowski's,  recipe.  The poppy seed filling is a Polish tradition.  For those who don't care for poppy seeds, the nut filling is also delicious.

Poppyseed Star” ( very popular these days in Poland). 

Poppyseed filling:

250 g blue poppy seeds

50 g small raisins

25 g walnuts

50 g candied orange peel

2 tablespoons honey

50 g caster sugar

1 teaspoon butter

2 egg whites

Dough:

4 cups of wheat flour - 640 g

a full glass of warm milk - 250 ml

6 medium egg yolks

2 sachets of dry yeast - 14 g in total

half a stick of butter - 100 g

1/3 cup of sugar - about 100 g

a pinch of salt

How to shape:  

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1WqSXFkeCwU