In Poland, just before Christmas our mothers and grandmothers prepare DELICIOUS Christmas cakes. They make makowiec(with poppy seeds), serowiec (with cottage cheese),pierniki (kind of gingerbread) and pierniczki and many others. Below you can find two recipes for our favourite sweets.

ALMOND YEAST ROLL (Christmas Cake)

LEAVEN:
1/2 oz. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
3 tbs. milk

DOUGH:
2 egg yolks
1 egg
2 1/2 tbs. sugar
lemon peel
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour

salt
3 1/2 tbs. butter
a few almonds for topping cake
powdered vanilla sugar for sprinkling
1/2 egg for brushing
butter for greasing pan
FILLING: 3 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2 egg whites
3/4 cup almonds
lemon peel.

1. Prepare leaven with yeast, set aside to rise.
2. Prepare dough cream egg wit sugar, add the leaven,flour, warm milk, salt, make thick dough, set aside to rise.
3. Grease a long narrow pan with butter.
4. Prepare filling. Blanch almonds, skin, dry, grind.
5. Cream egg yolks with sugar. Beat egg whites frothy, fold into yolks, add in ground almonds, add lemon peel, combine.
6. Roll out dough into rectangle 1/3 inch thick, spread with filling, roll up tightly into uniform thickness and place seam side down into long,narrow pan, set aside to rise again.
7. Brush the leavened dough with egg, sprinkle with coarsey- chopped almonds, pace in well- heated oven and bake for 3/4 hour.
8. Remove and allow to cool a little in pan, remove carefully and cool propped against high side of flour board.
9. Sprinkle generously with powdered vanilla sugar and then cool, or ice when cooled with frosting and while damp, with coarsely chopped almonds.

IT IS NOT EASY TO MAKE BUT DEFINETELY WORTH TRYING!