Mohnflesserl

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •Baking tray with parchment paper
• •Pastry brush
• •Wire cooling rack
• •Small oven-safe dish for water

Instructions

1. 1

   Activate the yeast

   Warm the milk until it feels like a comfortable bath, around 37°C. If you're using fresh yeast, crumble it into the milk with a pinch of the sugar and stir until dissolved. For dried yeast, sprinkle it over the surface and let it sit for five minutes until it foams. If it doesn't foam, your yeast is dead and no amount of kneading will save the dough. Start again with fresh yeast.

   Fresh yeast gives a slightly better flavor and rise. Austrian bakers almost always use it. You can find it in the refrigerated section of most supermarkets, often near the butter.
2. 2

   Make the dough

   Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Pour in the yeast mixture, then add the softened butter, egg, sugar, and salt. Bring it together with a wooden spoon until it forms a shaggy mass, then turn it out onto a clean surface and knead by hand for ten minutes. The dough will be sticky at first. Resist the urge to add more flour. Keep working it. After ten minutes it should be smooth, elastic, and slightly tacky to the touch. When you poke it with your finger, it should spring back slowly. That's the gluten telling you it's ready.

3. 3

   First rise

   Shape the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave it somewhere warm for about an hour, until it has doubled in size. The top of a preheating oven works if your kitchen runs cold. Don't rush this. The yeast needs time to develop flavor, not just volume. A slow rise in a cooler spot actually produces better bread than a fast rise in a hot one.

   If your kitchen is cold, turn the oven to its lowest setting for two minutes, switch it off, and place the covered bowl inside with the door slightly ajar. This creates a warm, draft-free chamber.
4. 4

   Divide and roll the strands

   Punch the dough down gently and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide it into eight equal pieces. Take one piece and divide it into three smaller portions. Roll each portion into a strand about 25 centimeters long, using your palms and working from the center outward. The strands should be even in thickness. If they keep springing back, let them rest for two minutes under the towel and try again. The gluten needs a moment to relax before it will cooperate.

5. 5

   Braid the rolls

   Pinch three strands together firmly at one end. Braid them loosely, left over center, right over center, the same way you'd braid hair or challah. Keep the braid relaxed. You want gaps between the strands so the poppy seeds settle into the crevices and the dough has room to expand. Pinch the other end and tuck both ends underneath. The finished roll should look like a plump little rope, about 12 centimeters long. Repeat with the remaining dough.

   A loose braid is better than a tight one. Tight braids fight the rise and you end up with dense, misshapen rolls that crack open along the sides.
6. 6

   Coat in poppy seeds

   Spread the poppy seeds in an even layer on a wide plate. Beat the egg yolk with a tablespoon of milk to make your egg wash. Brush each braided roll generously with the egg wash on all sides, then lay it in the poppy seeds and turn it, pressing gently, until every surface is coated in a thick layer of blue-black seeds. Don't be shy. The seeds are the whole identity of this bread. A thin, patchy coating is worse than no coating at all. Place the coated rolls on a baking tray lined with parchment, leaving space between them.

7. 7

   Second rise

   Cover the tray loosely with a tea towel and let the rolls prove for thirty minutes. They should puff up visibly but not double. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 200°C (190°C fan). The oven needs to be fully hot when the rolls go in. A blast of heat in the first few minutes is what gives you that crackling crust.

8. 8

   Bake the Flesserl

   Place a small oven-safe dish of water on the bottom rack of the oven. This creates a burst of humidity in the first minutes of baking that helps the crust develop properly. Slide the tray onto the middle rack and bake for 18 to 20 minutes. The rolls are done when the poppy seed crust is dark and fragrant and the bottom sounds hollow when you tap it. Pull them out and let them cool on a wire rack for at least ten minutes. The crumb is still setting inside and cutting too early will give you a gummy center.

   The poppy seeds will darken in the oven. Don't panic. They're supposed to look nearly black. That's when the flavor is at its best, nutty and warm with a faint bitterness that pairs perfectly with butter and honey.
9. 9

   Serve and enjoy

   Serve the Mohnflesserl warm or at room temperature with good butter, a pot of honey, and a slab of cheese if you're making a proper Jause. They're at their absolute best the day they're baked, when the crust still crackles when you tear into them and the crumb pulls apart in soft, fragrant strands. Mahlzeit!

Chef Tips

• •Buy whole blue poppy seeds, not ground. You want the seeds intact for coating so they give you that crunch and visual impact. Ground poppy is for fillings, not for the outside of a Flesserl. Check the date on the packet. Poppy seeds go rancid faster than you'd think, and rancid Mohn tastes bitter in all the wrong ways.
• •The egg wash is what makes the seeds stick. Be thorough. If you leave dry patches on the dough, the seeds will slide off and you'll have bald spots on your rolls. Brush, then immediately coat. Don't let the wash dry before the seeds go on.
• •Mohnflesserl freeze beautifully. Cool them completely, wrap individually in cling film, and freeze for up to a month. Reheat from frozen in a 180°C oven for eight minutes. They come back to life so well you'd swear they were just baked.
• •If you can find Austrian glattes Mehl, use it. It has a finer texture than most all-purpose flours and produces a softer crumb. If not, standard plain flour works. Just don't use bread flour. The extra protein will make the rolls chewy instead of tender.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made the evening before and left to rise slowly overnight in the fridge, covered tightly. Pull it out an hour before shaping to take the chill off. Cold-risen dough actually develops more flavor than a quick warm rise.
• •Baked Mohnflesserl freeze for up to one month. Reheat from frozen at 180°C for eight minutes.
• •The egg wash can be prepared and refrigerated a day ahead. Give it a quick whisk before using.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 110g)