I've also heard this called Bobalki, which means sweet bread balls in Slovak, although we have always called it opaconsa - no clue why.
This is one of my family's traditional Slovakian holiday dishes that I look forward to every Christmas - aside from the pierogis of course! My Great Aunt taught me how to make these when I was around 11 years old, and I'm hoping to keep this tradition going for years to come. These little sweet dough balls of heaven are smothered in a milky poppyseed coating - so all my military friends take heed and don't yell at me if you pop hot on your next drug test!
INGREDIENTS:
2 boxes Hot Roll Mix (you can make your own dough from scratch, but I don't have time for that and its the 21st century)
1/2 cup ground poppyseed
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 cup milk
DIRECTIONS:
1. Prepare hot roll mix according to the directions on the box. Roll out the dough to a half inch thickness and cur into half inch strips and then into half inch squares (I use a pizza cutter).
2. Place squares on an ungreased cookie sheet, close enough to each other so when they rise and bake, they will just barely be touching. After baking (according to the box), cool, tear the balls apart, and store in an airtight container.
3. Cook the rest of the ingredients in a large pot - like, no kidding, a big ol soup pot - over medium heat. Stir constantly until syrupy but not super thick (it should just coat the spoon).
4. Place 2-3 big handfuls of the bread balls in a colander and moisten with hot water. The bread balls should be wet, but nowhere near soggy/mushy! Put the wet bread into the pot and toss to coat. Keep repeating this step until you have put all the bread in the pot.
5. After a few minutes of gently stirring, taste the bread. If it is still dry and takes a lot of effort to chew, add a little more water. Serve warm!
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