Poppy Seed Roll

Jennifer IserlohDessert rolls, also called "Swiss rolls," are cakes or pastries of yeast bread with one or more fillings, either poppy seed or fruit. While still delicious and satisfying, these desserts rely more on texture, flavors and aromas rather than on high amounts of fat and sugar.

My Hungarian family serves this dessert at every winter and spring holiday, but my neighbors in Hoboken, N.J., claim that it's originally from medieval Slovenia since their relatives passed down a recipe from that origin to them.

Beigli is the Hungarian version of the dessert roll I grew up with, and we make it with ground walnuts and fragrant cinnamon or with dark, luscious poppy seeds boiled with spices and sugar to form a thick, sweet, spreadable paste. The filling is lower in calories and fat than chocolate spreads and doesn't contain preservatives. It has only 60 calories for one tablespoon and 1 1/2 grams of fat, but still has a rich, satisfying taste.

The store-bought paste makes for a nice alternative since finding the poppy seeds in bulk can be difficult and quite expensive. Two brands are Baker, which has a great texture and traditional poppy seed taste or Solo, which has the aroma of orange peel mixed with spices.


Get the Skinny Chef's Poppy Seed Roll recipe.

Nutritional Information Per serving (1 slice) : 176 calories, 7grams total fat, 1gram saturated fat, 87 milligram sodium, 25 grams carbohydrate, 3 grams protein.