I remember when I have tasted this roll for the first time. It’s been a gathering at my friend’s, I entered the room and I smelled Christmas. The smell of gingerbread, spice, nuts, marmalades and dried fruits. I felt like a kid. Thanks to my fellow blogger I present you one of my very favourites – Christmas Gingerbread Roll.
The base of this scrumptious roll is, of course, gingerbread dough, which can also be used for the cookies. Today I give you 2 alternatives for the fillings: beautiful mixture of hazelnuts, plums and dark chocolate and the second one of poppy, figs, apricots, almonds, raisins and sour cherries. Oh my!
Christmas Gingerbread Roll can be done few weeks ahead and stored in a cold dark place, closed in a box with some piece of dry bread or a piece of apple skin. This way it remains moist and soft. Slice into heaven and enjoy the atmosphere!
The Gingerbread Roll is suitable for kids from the age of 3. Ease on alcohol and have fun with it!
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes + an overnight chill of The Dough
Shopping List
The Dough:
350g of plain flour, sifted
1 teaspoon of soda bicarbonate, sifted
1 teaspoon of gingerbread spice (ground cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, etc.), sifted
120g of icing sugar, sifted
1 package of vanilla sugar
3 tablespoons of honey
2 whole eggs (1 for The Dough, 2 for brushing)
6 tablespoons of lukewarm milk
The Filling 1:
2 handfuls of roasted hazelnuts, hardly chopped
3 tablespoons of good quality plum marmalade
2 handfuls of dried plums, hardly chopped
2 handfuls of chocolate chunks (at least 70% dark chocolate)
The Filling 2:
50g of ground poppy
A knob of butter
1 tablespoon of icing sugar, sifted
1 tablespoon of lemon zest and juice
3 tablespoons of fig marmalade
2 handfuls of roasted almond flakes
2 handfuls of dried apricot (I used apricots soaked in honey)
2 handfuls of dried sour cherries and raisins soaked in a good rum
Instructions
In a large mixing bowl place all the ingredients: flour, soda, spice, sugars, honey and 1 egg.
Start kneading The Dough and gradually add milk, so it becomes a beautiful homogeneous texture. Knead until smooth.
Next, divide The Dough into 2 parts and wrap them in cling foil. Let it rest overnight in the fridge.
Next day
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
Take The Dough out from the fridge and bring it to a room temperature.
First, place hazelnuts onto a baking tray lined with some baking paper and roast for about 5 minutes.
Then, take them out and shake in a colander to remove the skins. Blend and chop into chunks.
Next, place almond flakes onto a baking tray lined with some baking paper and roast for about 3 minutes until they darken a bit. Take them out and set aside.
The Filling 2
In a small deep pan put poppy, butter, sugar, lemon zest and juice. Heat it up on medium heat and stir with spatula until smooth.
Then, take off the heat and stir in the marmalade. Taste and set aside to cool down a bit.
Presentation
Take both parts of The Dough and sieve your working board a bit. Knead them out with a roller into 0.5 cm thick rectangular shape.
Filling 1
Brush the first roll with a good layer of plum marmalade, all the way to the sides.
Sprinkle with dried plums, chocolate and hazelnuts. Be generous.
Next, gently roll it all up. Flip into a large baking tray lined with some baking paper. Always place the rolls with the endings in bottom, so they won’t get open. Close the sides of the roll and place the endings in the bottom as well.
Filling 2
Brush the second roll with a generous amount of the poppy-marmalade filling.
Then, sprinkle with almonds and dried fruits previously soaked in rum. So yummy already now.
Continue the same way as with the 1st roll. Roll, flip the endings to the bottom and wrap the sides.
Both of the rolls brush with egg yolk. Let it dry, and then, brush with the egg white. Dry them out once again. Depending on the room temperature, drying is very fast, takes around 5 minutes.
Bake them in the oven until they are baked through, for about 30 minutes on 180 degrees.
Take them out and let them cool down entirely. Slice thinly and store them in a cold place, closed in a box with a piece of dry bread or an apple skin, similarly to gingerbread cookies.
Makes 2 large gingerbread rolls.
