I loved to visit my grandmother as a child so much! I remember her kind hands, the hands that loved to knead the dough. She always wanted to treat me with something tasty, sweet and aromatic. Poppy seeds roll, zavivanets, for example, made from some magical ingredients known only to her. Our mothers and grandmothers were doing zavivents with a great doze of love, maybe that’s why it is so incredibly tasty for us, tastier and more desirable than the most exquisite and famous dessert in the world?
I loved to visit my grandmother as a child so much! I remember her kind hands, the hands that loved to knead the dough. She always wanted to treat me with something tasty, sweet and aromatic. Poppy seeds roll, zavivanets, for example, made from some magical ingredients known only to her. Our mothers and grandmothers were doing zavivents with a great doze of love, maybe that’s why it is so incredibly tasty for us, tastier and more desirable than the most exquisite and famous dessert in the world?- Prep time: 45 minutes + 16 hours for proofing
- Cooking time: 45 minutes
- Serves: 1 curl about 1200 g
- Difficulty: medium
- Course: baking
- Cookware: rolling pin, pastry brush, dough knife, scale, KitchenAid planetary food processor
- Cuisine: Ukrainian
Ingredients
For the dough:
- 200 g ripe stiff wheat sourdough starter
- 455 g strong bread flour
- 200 g milk
- 115 g butter (at room temperature)
- 90 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 5 g salt
- vegetable oil for greasing the proofing container
For filling:
- 800 g poppy seed filling (ready-made)
For glaze:
- 1 egg (beaten)
For syrup:
- 50 g sugar
- 50 g water
- 30 g cognac / rum
Cooking method
Step 1
Pour milk into a bowl of the food processor. Add egg, sourdough and flour. Knead the dough for about 7 minutes with a food processor (or with your hands) until smooth. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rest for 45 minutes. The consistency of the dough should be stiff. If the dough is too thick, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of milk during kneading.
Step 2
Mix sugar and salt. Add half of the mixture to the dough and knead until the salt and sugar are completely mixed. Then add the other half and continue kneading the dough. Divide the butter into two parts. Add the first half of the butter to the dough. Knead the dough until it “takes” all the butter and becomes smooth and shiny, for about 10 minutes. Then add the other half of the butter and repeat the process. The finak dough will be soft and smooth. Grease the container for the dough with vegetable oil, lay out the dough, cover with foil or towel and leave in a warm place to proof. During the proofing period, the dough should double in size.
Step 3
Sprinkle the work surface with flour and transfer the dough to the surface. Form a ball, cover with foil and let stand for 10 minutes. Then roll the dough into a rectangle with sides about 40×25 cm. Put the filling on the dough with a spoon and spread it evenly. Roll the filled dough into a roll, starting to wrap the dough from the long side. Then cut the roll with a knife along the middle. Place one half of the dough on top of the other with the filling facing up so that the letter “X” is formed and weave both ends together.
Step 4
Cover the baking sheet with parchment. Transfer the curl to a baking sheet and form a round roll. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap. Let the roll stand for about 10 hours in the refrigerator or about 3-4 hours at room temperature. The dough should grow visually and be soft to the touch.
Step 5
Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease the zavivanets with a beaten egg and bake for 45-55 minutes.
Step 6
Prepare syrup: pour water, cognac / rum into a saucepan and add sugar. Boil the mixture over low heat, stirring to cook the syrup until the sugar is completely dissolved. When the syrup begins to thicken a little, remove from the stove and leave to cool.
Step 7
Transfer the baked curl to the wire rack and immediately grease with syrup. Leave to cool.
My tips and tricks:
you can make one round roll or two rectangular curls from this portion of the dough. If you decide to cook two, then before rolling out the dough, divide it and the filling into two parts. Roll each piece into a rectangle as well, but only 25×20 cm in size. Take two rectangular molds and grease them with butter.
- For the dough:
- 200g ripe stiff wheat sourdough starter
- 455 g strong bread flour
- 200 g milk
- 115 g butter (at room temperature)
- 90 g sugar
- 1 egg
- 5 g salt
- vegetable oil for greasing the proofing container
- For filling:
- 800 gr poppy seed filling (ready-made)
- For glaze:
- 1 egg (beaten)
- For syrup:
- 50 g sugar
- 50 g water
- 30 g cognac / rum
- Pour milk into a bowl of the food processor. Add egg, sourdough and flour. Knead the dough for about 7 minutes with a food processor (or with your hands) until smooth. Cover the bowl with a towel and let the dough rest for 45 minutes. The consistency of the dough should be stiff. If the dough is too thick, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of milk during kneading.
- Mix sugar and salt. Add half of the mixture to the dough and knead until the salt and sugar are completely mixed. Then add the other half and continue kneading the dough. Divide the butter into two parts. Add the first half of the butter to the dough. Knead the dough until it "takes" all the butter and becomes smooth and shiny, for about 10 minutes. Then add the other half of the butter and repeat the process. The finak dough will be soft and smooth. Grease the container for the dough with vegetable oil, lay out the dough, cover with foil or towel and leave in a warm place to proof. During the proofing period, the dough should double in size.
- Sprinkle the work surface with flour and transfer the dough to the surface. Form a ball, cover with foil and let stand for 10 minutes. Then roll the dough into a rectangle with sides about 40x25 cm. Put the filling on the dough with a spoon and spread it evenly. Roll the filled dough into a roll, starting to wrap the dough from the long side. Then cut the roll with a knife along the middle. Place one half of the dough on top of the other with the filling facing up so that the letter "X" is formed and weave both ends together.
- Cover the baking sheet with parchment. Transfer the curl to a baking sheet and form a round roll. Cover the baking sheet with plastic wrap. Let the roll stand for about 10 hours in the refrigerator or about 3-4 hours at room temperature. The dough should grow visually and be soft to the touch.
- Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease the zavivanets with a beaten egg and bake for 45-55 minutes.
- Prepare syrup: pour water, cognac / rum into a saucepan and add sugar. Boil the mixture over low heat, stirring to cook the syrup until the sugar is completely dissolved. When the syrup begins to thicken a little, remove from the stove and leave to cool.
- Transfer the baked curl to the wire rack and immediately grease with syrup. Leave to cool.
They are perfect for baking our curls. If the molds are ceramic, you need five minutes of baking time. For the filling, you can use nutella, cottage cheese, cinnamon / cardamom with sugar and butter, chocolate ganache or any thick jam.