Vegan poppy seed roll

Step 1

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.

Step 2

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.

Step 3

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.

Step 4

Place the sifted flour, yeast, turmeric, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.

Step 5

Add the lukewarm plant milk and mix it into the dry ingredients with a spoon.

Step 6

Next, mix in the melted (but not hot) coconut oil.

Step 7

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.

Step 8

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.

Step 9

Just before you are ready to roll out your dough, heat up the oven to 180° C / 355° F.

Step 10

Once the dough has doubled in size, roll the dough out into a large, 3 mm thick rectangle.

Step 11

Spread the filling on the surface of the rolled out dough leaving a 2 cm margin on all sides.

Step 12

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.

Step 13

Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, cut the baking paper off and allow the log to cool off.

Step 14

Apply the icing to the warm (but not hot) cake and decorate with poppy seeds.

Step 15

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.