In the bowl of a stand mixer (fitted with a dough hook), add the warm water, yeast, and sugar. Stir to combine. Let the yeast proof for 5 minutes, until it foams.

Add the eggs, oil, honey and vanilla, and stir to combine.

Then add the flour and salt and stir the dough on medium until it comes together in a sticky ball. If you find it's way too sticky, you can add up to 1/4 cup more of flour but no more---and I recommend dealing with sticky dough. The less flour you add, the softer the resulting bread.

Finally, add the zest and poppy seeds, and knead until they are spread throughout the dough.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning the dough a few times to coat it in oil, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Allow it to rise at room temperature until doubled in size (1-2 hours), or you can set it in the fridge for an overnight rise.

To make the filling, warm the milk in a saucepan with the sugar and salt. Once the sugar has dissolved, add the poppyseeds, lemon zest, and almond extract. Cook on low for about 10 minutes, until the poppyseeds have absorbed most of the liquid. The texture will be sandy. Let it cool.

Prepare a loaf pan with a parchment paper sling.

Once the dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out onto a well-floured surface to the size of a cookie sheet rectangle.

Spread the poppyseed filling over the dough in an even layer, using an offset spatula. Sprinkle the white chocolate chunks over the filling.

Roll the dough up into a log from the short side. Slice it in half lengthwise and twist the two logs around each other (face down the filling will bake unexposed though it's messy AF). Alternatively, you can roll the dough from the long side and slice it in half to make two shorter logs (you then slice each log in half lengthwise and twist each of them).

Transfer to the loaf pan and allow the dough to rise for 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Bake for 25-35 minutes.  If your bread starts browning too much but isn't done, tent it with foil and continue baking. It’s done when an internal temperature of 190 is reached.

Once you pull it out of the oven, brush the simple syrup over the top to glaze.  Let it cool for 10-15 minutes in the pan, then remove and put on a cooling rack.