Czechs are one of the largest poppyseed producers! That’s maybe one reason why the poppyseed filling or maková náplň is so popular here in the Czech Republic.
This poppy seed filling is used in Central Europe to fill sweet baked pastry and yeast dough like buchta, koláče, šátečky.
Ground Poppyseed
In the Czech Republic, we purchase blue poppy either whole or ground. To grind the poppy seeds, you need a special mill. You can get this mill easily in the Czech Republic, and it’s a manual thing with specially designed grinding gear.
The other method is to use a clean coffee grinder and grind the poppyseed in small batches.
Ingredients
To make homemade Czech style poppyseed filling from scratch you’ll need:
- Poppyseed, ground in a mill or coffee grinder
- Whole milk, avoid using low-fat milk because there is no further fat added in this filling, and this is not a low-calorie recipe 🙂
- Coarse sugar
- Jam, the best variant is plum jam (Czech favorite); however, grab any solid jam you’ll find in your pantry
- Lemon zest, freshly ground
Instructions
STEP 1: In a pot with a thick bottom, combine ground poppyseed and milk:
STEP 2: Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally to prevent milk from burning. Add sugar, jam, and lemon zest:
STEP 3: Lower the heat and cook until the poppyseed is soft; it takes about 10 minutes. Don’t forget stirring:
STEP 4: When finished, transfer the poppyseed filling to a bowl, set it aside, and allow it to cool down completely:
Important: This poppy seed filling thickens while cooling down. Make sure it’s cold before using it.
Cook’s Tips
- If the filling is too thin, add small gingerbread crumbles, or powder the poppy seeds with 1 tablespoon of semolina and boil it quickly.
- If the filling is too thick, add milk.
- Only use the filling after it cooled down!
🥐 Czech recipes with poppyseed:
- Koláče – authentic recipe for Czech kolache
- Škubánky s mákem – sweet treat with poppy seed topping
- Makovec – poppy seed coffee cake
FAQs
A simple way to ground poppyseed is by using a special mill. It’s a piece of common equipment in Czech kitchens; try to find one from Tescoma (Czech brand). Another method is to grind poppy seeds in a clean coffee grinder.
To get more flavor in poppy seed filling, add some vanilla, ground cloves, soaked raisins, or a tablespoon of rum to the cooled filling.
Recipe
Maková Náplň - Czech Poppyseed Filling
Ingredients
- 1 and ½ cups (220 g) poppy seed
- 1 cup (240 ml) milk
- ½ cup (100 g) coarse sugar
- ⅓ cup (110 g) jam (any solid jam: eg, plum, strawberry, apricot)
- ½ Tbsp lemon zest (freshly ground)
Instructions
- If you have whole poppyseed, grind it first.
- In a pot with a thick bottom, combine ground poppyseed and milk.
- Bring to a boil over medium heat. Stir occasionally to prevent milk from burning. Add sugar, jam, and lemon zest.
- Lower the heat and cook until the poppyseed is soft; it takes about 10 minutes. Don’t forget stirring.
- When finished, transfer the poppyseed filling to a bowl, set it aside, and allow it to cool down completely.
Notes
- Makes about 1 ½ cup of filling.
- If you’re filling smaller spaces (for instance Czech kolache or kolacky), put the filling in a decorating bag first and spray it over the pastry.
- This poppy seed filling while cooling down. Make sure it’s cold before using it.
DISCLAIMER: Because I come from Central Europe, my recipes are based on metric units such as grams or milliliters. Check out how I convert metric units to the U.S. system:
Conversion chart
David
Poppies are really hard to get here (Michigan), so I got to make this only once when my cousin sent a packet full of poppy seeds from the Czech Republic. Even then, this tasted fantastic! I think that poppies are really underrated in the US.
Petra Kupská
Ahoj David, poppy seeds are one of the most commonly used ingredients in the Czech Republic when it comes to making filling for kolache and buchty buns. Always a great choice!