HELP! nut and poppy seed rolls

[istylit71]

I'm trying to make Hungarian/Polish nut and poppy seed rolls. I found this recipe in Taste of Home and tried it this week. I followed it to the letter and it fell apart during baking. Although it was tasty, it didn't look pretty, didn't hold up to the fillings, and fell apart when trying to move it to a cooling rack. I'm wondering if I should have kneaded the dough longer (even though it didn't say to do so) before letting it rest and refrigerating it. Here's the recipe I used:

• 2 packages (1/4 ounce each) active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup warm water (110° to 115°)
• 1 cup warm 2% milk (110° to 115°)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6 cups all-purpose flour
• 
  NUT FILLING:
• 1 cup ground pecans
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped dates
• 1/2 cup 2% milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg white
• 
  POPPY SEED FILLING:
• 1 can (12-1/2 ounces) poppy seed cake and pastry filling
• 1/4 cup chopped raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 
  ICING:
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 2 to 3 tablespoons water

Directions

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sour cream, sugar, butter, eggs, salt and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Beat in remaining flour until mixture forms a soft dough. Transfer to a greased bowl, turning once the grease the top; cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Divide dough in half. Roll each portion into a 14-in. x 12-in. rectangle. For nut filling, in a small bowl, combine the pecans, sugar, dates, milk and salt. In another bowl, beat egg white until stiff peaks form; fold into pecan mixture. Spread over one portion. Spread poppyseed filling over remaining dough; sprinkle with raisins and walnuts. Roll up each jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seams to seal and tuck ends under. Place seam side down on parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 30 minutes.
• Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Combine confectioners' sugar and enough water to achieve desired consistency; drizzle over breads. Yield: 2 loaves (14 slices each).

Any help would be much appreciated because I'd like to try again before Thanksgiving. Thanks!
Jen

 

[philso]

not having seen the results, it's hard to tell where you may have gone wrong, and there's nothing glaringly wrong with the recipe either. for what it's worth, here are some points where you may want to pay attention to on your next try.

as far as the recipe itself goes, the one point that i'd question is the nut filling. i could be wrong, but with 1/2 c milk along with the meringue, it sounds like it could be kind of soupy. where i would head as far as the fillings go would be that they be of a consistency that is soft enough to be easily spreadable without tearing the dough or, that you can sprinkle on.

the recipe says to "Beat in remaining flour until mixture forms a soft dough" and then refigerate and use, but you should be kneading it well until the gluten is developed. by hand maybe 15 minutes???

also, the recipe calls for AP flour but bread flour (hard wheat) would give you better results as far as strength goes. AP flour without kneading would give you a comparatively cakier (and weaker) consistency.

make sure thqt the nuts are chopped or broken small enough that they won't tear holes in the rolled out dough.

when you roll up the rolls, you'll want to tread the fine line between rolling up firmly enough to keep out as much air as possible, and yet not pushing too hard and tearing holes in the layers.

and when you pinch the seams, do the entire length and making sure the the end is adhering well but, again, without tearing holes.

finally, when you transfer it a cooling rack, make sure that it's entirely supported along its length, and not just pick it up at the middle or ends only. you may also consider using enough parchment under each one that you could transfer it by pick up the parchment along the sides and "cradling" it. you could also bake them already on the cooling racks so that you could let them rest 10 minutes or so and then simply slide the parchment out from under them.

better luck on your next try, and don't give up. they sound delicious.

 

[istylit71]

Thanks for your reply. Actually I didn't even do the nut filling. I should have mentioned that. I did one roll with poppy seed and the other with apricot preserves. The apricot one REALLY fell apart. I actually think I over-filled it.

"also, the recipe calls for AP flour but bread flour (hard wheat) would give you better results as far as strength goes. AP flour without kneading would give you a comparatively cakier (and weaker) consistency."

That is EXACTLY what happened!!! It had a moist,tender and "cakey" consistency! really good, but wrong for what these rolls should be. I would still like it to be on the moist/tender side, but with more structure. Should I maybe use half bread flour and half AP, or should I go with all bread? (or maybe just knead the all-AP dough longer) I don't want to give this more than one more shot before Thanksgiving...LOL

 

[philso]

have you ever made regular cinnamon rolls yet? if not, they would make a good intro into the type of filled bread you are trying to make. just a very thin brushing of melted butter along with a little sugar and cinnamon prevents the layers from adhering.

a couple of things i thought of later would be to caution about rolling out the dough too thinly. you've got very detailed size specs in your recipe, but i probably wouldn't go much less than about 1/3 inch.

also, leave about 1/2" to 1" border along all the edges, with the exception of the edge which would be in the center of the roll. if you want, you could give the borders a very light brushing of water and let it sit for a few minutes before rolling up. then pinch together carefully.

i can imagine that apricot jam could end up quite messy, especially if overfilled. being what it is, it wouldn't bake into the dough or thicken up or do anything to make the dough layers adhere to each other.

there are many bread recipes that call for ap flour, although i wonder if they are intentionally that way to cater to most people, who wouldn't necessarily have bread flour on hand. whatever type you use, you should definitely knead the dough first.

better luck on your next try. and don't give up on this. every failure is actually a step in the the right direction. you'll get it the way you want eventually.

 

[justplainbill]

Bake on parchment paper. Let cool before moving. They should stiffen up after cooling. A/P flour should work just fine.

 

[istylit71]

Thanks everyone! I got bread flour yesterday so I'll mix half bread and half AP (Thanks for that tip Philso!) and knead it longer. I'm also not going to roll the dough as thin. I'll keep you posted as to how it turns out! You guys are great!
These rolls are popular at church bazaars here in PA, and I can never seem to get there before they sell out! So it's up to me! *fingers and toes crossed*
Have a great Monday!
Jen

 

[istylit71]

I think that's where I went wrong also. I tried to move them from the parchment to a cooling rack.
I love to cook, but I never did a whole lot of baking, especially yeast breads. So this is really a learning experience. Thanks for your help!

Bake on parchment paper. Let cool before moving. They should stiffen up after cooling. A/P flour should work just fine.

 

[justplainbill]

The rolls are an eastern European form of cake, not a bread.

 

[istylit71]

well, trial number 2......much better! Except.....I FORGOT THE SUGAR!!!! LOL
But they look beautiful, the filling didn't leak as much, and the dough was easier to handle since I kneaded it with my mixer for a full 6 minutes. Hopefully they'll be okay. I haven't tasted them because I'm saving them for the holiday. We shall see! But I'm excited enough to try homemade dinner rolls also! This bread-baking thing could be fun! Off to study my cookbooks......Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[recipedirect]

My husbands recipe that is really good. Picture also Sweet Nut Roll

 

[istylit71]

well the rolls were so-so. They were kind of dry. But I had a bit of a victory today because I decided to make a loaf of bread. It got absolutely delicious! Even my husband couldn't believe it! LOL I think I have my technique and ingredient-adding sequence down now. I made notes in the cookbook right by the recipe as to what I did. So I will make the rolls once more at Christmas. I'm also adding some bread-baking cookbooks to my Christmas list.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

The rolls are an eastern European form of cake, not a bread.

You are correct Bill, Makowiec is a yeast cake.

 

[istylit71]

I didn't know there was such a thing as a yeast cake....I just know the ones I grew up eating always reminded me more of a bread than a cake

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

Savarin is my fav yeast cake.

 

[justplainbill]

We like to make Panettone and I enjoy Paczki fried in leaf lard.

 

[philso]

well, trial number 2......much better! Except.....I FORGOT THE SUGAR!!!! LOL
But they look beautiful, ... I'm excited enough to try homemade dinner rolls also! This bread-baking thing could be fun! Off to study my cookbooks......Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

glad to hear you're getting the hang of it. your average dinner roll should be much easier. once you get into it, bread making is pretty forgiving, in that it's easy to adjust, add or subtract ingredients or even start bread on one day and finish on the next.

best of luck on your future endeavors

 

[ella/TO]

This really has nothing to do with the above recipes...I just want to know....can poppy seeds go rancid? Can they be kept in a tightly closed jar in the pantry? Or, do they have to be refridgerated?

 

[philso]

This really has nothing to do with the above recipes...I just want to know....can poppy seeds go rancid? Can they be kept in a tightly closed jar in the pantry? Or, do they have to be refridgerated?

poppy seeds have oil, and anything oily can go rancid.

in your fridge or freezer, they could be fine for years. however, stored in a warm place, for example near your stove, in a warm kitchen in the summer, etc., they could concievably go bad within a few months. the same with cookng oil, nuts, whole grain flours, etc.

rancid food has a distinctive acrid smell, and a bitter taste. i've read that they are carcinogenic. if you have any doubts, you should probably toss them out.

google and wikipedia should provide you with plenty of better detaled info.

 

[ella/TO]

Philso, thanks so much from Toronto, Ont. Canada to Japan!!!....how right you are, they were dumped....take care, have Happy Holidays