Recipe: Poppy Seed Filling

Poppy Seed Filling
Makes about 1 1/2 cups

1 1/2 cups (4 oz. approximately) ground poppy seeds
1/2 cup water
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lemon zest - finely minced
1/3 cup raisins - coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped almonds (optional)
4 tablespoons seedless raspberry jam or jelly
1 small tart apple - grated

In a 3 quart saucepan, combine the ground poppy seeds, water and milk. Bring to a gentle boil and allow to simmer a couple of minutes. Add butter, honey, lemon zest, raisins, sugar, salt, cinnamon and stir well, reducing heat so that mixture cooks but does not burn or stick. You want ingredients to slowly meld and liquid (milk and water) to be absorbed by the seeds. The resultant mixture should be a paste. This should take 10-15 minutes. Low heat is best. Remove from stove and stir in jam or apple (or both). Cool very well before using - filling will further thicken once cold.

Keep filling refrigerated until needed. If mixture seems too thick (if using directly from the fridge) allow it to warm a bit. You can loosen filling with a touch of warm water.