Makowiec

The story

Makowiec is a rolled yeast cake with a dense, dark filling of ground poppy seeds, honey, and raisins, and its cross-section — a spiral of black filling framed by golden dough — makes it one of the most visually recognizable Polish Christmas cakes. Preparing the filling is slow work: the poppy seeds have to be boiled and then ground or crushed several times until they are nearly a paste, or they stay gritty on the tongue. Generations of Polish grandmothers did these steps by hand, with a poppy seed mill, before electric grinders became available. In many families poppy seeds are linked with abundance and fertility, much as they are in kutia, so makowiec, along with kutia, is considered one of the “lucky” sweets of Wigilia, although unlike kutia it is usually served only at the end of the meal. An alternative, equally popular version uses walnuts instead of poppy seeds (orzechowiec), and in many homes both cakes are baked side by side, so that no one at the table goes without a favorite.