Beigli is a Hungarian dessert made at Christmas time. It is a time honoured tradition. Beigli to Hungarians is the same as Christmas pudding is to the British.  If beigli brings back childhood memories, as it does with me, you must make it for the holiday season!

Biegli

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Course: Dessert
Cuisine: Hungarian
Keyword: Christmas, Delicious, Different, Do-Ahead, Family Reunion, Holiday, New Year's, Oven Baked, Special Dinner
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Passive Time: 1 day
Total Time: 1 day 1 hour 10 minutes
Degree of Difficulty : Moderately difficult
Servings: 30 servings
Tip : Poppy Seed filling is not easy to make. Fortunately, prepared poppy seed filling is available in a canned format. I found that the best is SOLO brand poppy seed filling and it is from Europe.

Ingredients 

Dough

  • 1/3 cup lukewarm milk
  • 1 package Fleischmann’s dry yeast
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 pinch of salt
  • 1/2 lb + 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 2 whole eggs 1 separated for brushing pastry
  • 2-3 tbsp sour cream

Walnut Filling

  • 3 1/2 cups walnuts coarsely chopped
  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 1/3 cup dark rum
  • 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1 tspn vanilla extract
  • 1 lemon zest and juice from a half a lemon
  • 1/3 Cup milk

Poppy Seed Filling (Canned)

  • 1/3 cup golden raisins
  • 1/3 cup dark rum
  • 2 12.5 oz SOLO brand cans of Poppy Seed Filling

Instructions

  • Gather all ingredients before starting recipe for dough

Dough

  • Mix dry yeast, lukewarm milk and a teaspoon of sugar in a small bowl, stir to combine and set aside for about 5 minutes.
  • In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, butter, 1 whole egg, remaining sugar and dissolved yeast. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of sour cream and knead until the dough comes together, 2-3 minutes. If the dough seems a bit dry, add another tablespoon of sour cream.
  • Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until you can form a smooth round ball, 5-7 minutes
  • Cut the dough into 4 equal portions, cover with cling wrap and refrigerate 2 hours or overnight.

Walnut Filling

  • Remove dough from fridge while preparing walnut filling.
  • Gather ingredients for the fillings before starting.
  • Combine 2/3 cup golden raisins with 1/2 cup dark rum and set aside to soak for about 1 hour.
  • Place walnuts in a re-sealable plastic bag, seal the bag, and using a rolling pin, break up the whole pieces of walnuts until you have reached a coarse consistency.
  • Pour walnuts into a mixing bowl and combine with powdered sugar, vanilla, zest of a lemon, juice of a half of lemon, 1/3 cup milk and half of the raisins and the rum. Reserve half of the raisins to sprinkle over poppy seed rolls.
  • Mix walnut mixture until well combined, set aside.

Assembly

  • Preheat oven to 375°/190° if using a convection oven
  • Prepare a large cookie sheet by lining with parchment paper
  • Flour working surface and roll out one ball of dough to a rectangle about 9 x 12 inches
  • Spread half of the walnut filling on the dough, spreading to within an inch of the edges, then turn the edges on 3 sides over the filling. Tip, roll towards you, not away from you.
  • Roll the dough into a log, repeat with the next ball of dough and the remaining walnut filling,
  • Place the rolled dough, seam side down, on a cookie sheet, and roll out the next ball

Poppy seed filling

  • Repeat the procedure with the poppy seed filling
  • Sprinkle raisins on top of filling before rolling

Preparation for Baking

  • Using a fork, prick holes the length of each roll.
  • Separate one egg into 2 small bowls and slightly whip the egg yolk and egg white separately.
  • Brush the top and edges of each roll with the beaten egg yolk and allow to dry, about 20 minutes.
  • When dry, brush the top and edges of the rolls with the beaten egg white.
  • Bake in a 375/190 convection oven for 30 minutes, or until the top of the rolls are a golden brown.

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