Makovnjača

Lore & Background

Makovnjača is a variant of the poppy seed roll found across Central and Eastern Europe. The dough is made from flour, sugar, egg yolk, milk or sour cream, butter, and yeast, sometimes flavored with lemon or orange zest or rum. The filling consists of ground poppy seeds, raisins, butter or milk, sugar or honey, rum, and vanilla; apricot jam may substitute for sugar.

Reader's Guide

The dough is initially heavy, stiff, and dry, but becomes elastic and strong with kneading and resting. It is rolled into a large sheet, spread with filling, and rolled into a log. The log is brushed with egg white, left to rest, then baked until golden brown. Some recipes use different washes or glazes. In Hungarian cuisine, poppy seed and walnut rolls are served together as mákos és diós, but some English cookbooks omit the walnut alternative, while other writers combine both fillings.

Did You Know?

• Makovnjača is also known as štrudla sa makom in Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian.
• The poppy seed filling may include apricot jam as a substitute for sugar.
• The dough and filling layers should ideally be of equal thickness.
• The unbaked log is brushed with egg white left over from the yolk used in the dough.