Poppy Seed Rum Raisin Strudel With Cinnamon Glaze

How could I have lived in Germany for 10 years and never made strudel? Shame on me. Let's fix that now.

This recipe looked interesting and a pantry search turned up bags of poppy seeds and raisins so I was good to go.

Poppy Seed Rum Raisin Strudel With Cinnamon Glaze

From Mohnstrudel mit Rumrosinen recipe from Weihnachts-Backen, Verlag Zabert Sandmann München 2008

Ingredients:


*For the dough:


1+1/4 teaspoons wet yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
pinch of salt
1 egg
1 tablespoon lemon zest


For the filling:


1+1/2 cup raisins
2 tablespoons brown rum
2 cups chopped walnuts
1+1/2 cups crushed poppy seeds
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
seeds from 1 vanilla pod
1/4 cup cream
5 tablespoons breadcrumbs


For the Glaze:


2 cups Powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons Butter
2 tablespoons cinnamon


*This recipe makes a very large strudel. I ended up cutting the strudel in half to get two. You may want to halve the recipe.


Directions:


Breakup the yeast with your fingers and dissolve it along with the sugar in a scant 1/2 cup lukewarm water.


Combine the yeast water with the oil and the pinch of salt.


In a mixer fitted with a dough hook bowl, mix the egg and the lemon zest together with the yeast mixture until the dough is smooth and flexible.


Cover the bowl with a dish towel and leave to let rise for about one hour or until the mass has doubled.


Put the raisins in a small bowl and cover with the rum. Combine the walnuts, poppy seeds, milk, sugar and vanilla seeds in a sauce pan and heat for about 5 minutes stirring to throughly mix the ingredients together.

Remove from heat and stir in the raisins and rum. Let stand 20 minutes.


Put the dough onto a floured surface and with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough into a rectangle.

Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the dough and then cover with the filling mixture leaving about 3/4 of an inch border all around.

From the long side, roll the dough into a long loaf and tightly press the ends to seal them.

Cover the strudel and let it rest in a warm place for 15 minutes.


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.


Place the strudel on the baking sheet seem side down and place in the middle section of the oven.


Bake for approximately 50 minutes and cool.


In a saucepan heat the milk and butter until butter is melted.


Whisk in the powdered sugar a half  cup at a time until smooth.


Whisk in cinnamon.


Pour over the strudel.


When icing has cooled and hardened, slice strudel and serve.


This strudel is very sweet. In retrospect, I think I overdid it and put too much glaze on it. I should have just drizzled it and not spread the glaze so thick. However, the result is  delicious.