Gefüllter Weggen ( A lemony twist-bread with a hazelnut filling)

Since I'm of Swiss heritage it's no wonder that I'm a sucker for European baking. I remember when I was travelling in India and we visited a small town in the desert in Rajasthan, and we came upon an internet cafe that operated as a German bakery on the side. I thought this was madness, but I could see why tourists would have appreciated it; the offerings were deliciously authentic. Usually when I travel I prefer to eat the local cuisine, but the cinnamon rolls were just too tempting. I'm a sucker for 'em. So if you have a penchant for yummy authentic European-style baking, then you should give this recipe of my mum's a whirl. I've formed them as my mother would with twists on the sides, however, you could form them how you wish; you could roll the filled dough like you would for pinwheels/cinnamon rolls etc, and also glaze them while warm.

Bread Ingredients:

250g flour
¾ teaspoon salt
the grated rind of half a lemon
30g sugar
30g margarine or butter, soft, cut into small pieces
1 & 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
100ml warm milk
1/2 a beaten egg (you will use the other half later in the filling)

Ingredients For The Filling:

150g cottage cheese (or better yet, use ‘quark’ if you have access to it)
1 & ½ tablespoons semolina
50g sugar
grated rind of half a lemon
50g ground hazelnuts
80g sultanas (optional)
½ a beaten egg

Ingredients For The Glaze:

50g icing sugar (powder sugar)
½ tablespoon water
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Method:

Place the flour, salt, lemon rind, sugar and margarine/butter in a large bowl.

Dissolve the yeast in the milk then add to the large bowl along with the egg.

Mix, then knead the dough until it is smooth.

Lightly moisten the dough ball with a touch of oil and set it aside (covered) in a warm spot for 2-3 hours.

During this time you may want to get the filling ready, just combine all the ingredients.

Roll out the risen dough to a rectangle approx 20x30cm.

Place the filling down the middle of the rectangle then fold the longer sides in towards the centre, letting them overlap a little. Moisten the overlapped edges with a little water and stick them together. Flip it so the seam will lie face down on your prepared baking tray. Make 6-7 evenly spaced cuts down each side; turn the resulting flaps in opposite directions on either side (see the photo for help).

Let it rise again, at room temperature, for 20-30 minutes.

Brush with a beaten egg yolk then bake at 180 Celsius, on the lowest oven rack, for 20-50 minutes (depending on the size that you form it). When ready it will be a nice golden brown all over.

Combine the glaze ingredients and brush onto bread while it's still warm.

Makes 1, however, this recipe doubles very easily.