Sweet Poppyseed Bread

Mix the yeast into the milk and stir in the sugar and 3-4 tbsp flour. Leave to rise for around 15 minutes.

Place the remaining flour in a bowl with the salt and add the the starter dough, egg and the butter. Knead well with an electric whisk with dough hooks. The dough should be smooth and fall away from the sides of the bowl. If necessary add more milk or flour. Cover and leave to rise in a warm place for around 1 hour.

To make the filling, mix together the egg yolk, cornflour, vanilla seeds and 100 ml milk. Place the remaining milk in a pot along with the poppyseeds, sugar and butter and bring to the boil. Remove from the heat, add 5 tbsps of the hot milk to the cornflour mixture and stir to create a smooth paste. Return the milk mixture to the heat and add the cornflour mixture to the pot stirring well for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Beat the egg white until stiff and fold in.

Re-knead the dough and roll out on a floured work surface into a 1 cm thick rectangle. Spread the poppyseed mixture on top and roll up the dough. Cut in half and twist the two strands together.

Grease a loaf tin and place the twist in it. Cover and leave to rise for around 15 minutes.

Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C in a fan oven), 350°F, gas 4 and bake the bread for around 30 minutes until golden brown. Leave to cool slightly, remove from the tin and leave to cool completely.