Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

| German Cuisine

Stollen, is a rich, fruit bread dusted with icing sugar, which is traditionally made at Christmas.

Ingredients

• 2oz/50g seedless raisins
• 2oz/50g currants
• 2oz/50g candied citrus peel
• 2oz/50g halved maraschino cherries
• 4 tablespoons dark rum or brandy
• ¾ oz/20g yeast
• 3oz/75g sugar
• 1½ tablespoons warm water
• 1 lb/450g plain flour (or all-purpose flour)
• 1½oz/40g chopped almonds
• 5 fl oz/150ml milk
• grated rind ½ lemon
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg, well beaten
• 5oz/150g butter, 3oz/100g diced and softened, 2oz/50g melted
• ½oz/15g icing sugar

Procedure

1. Put the raisins, currents, citrus peel and cherries in a bowl with the rum/brandy and leave them to soak for at least one hour.
2. In a small bowl, stir the yeast and one teaspoon of the sugar into the water. Leave this for five minutes for fresh yeast and fifteen minutes for dried yeast.
3. Sprinkle 1½ tablespoons of the flour into the fruit together with the almonds. Stir the mixture until the flour is completely absorbed.
4. Warm the milk until it is lukewarm and stir in the remaining sugar until it has dissolved. Then, stir in the lemon rind.
5. Place all but 2 oz/50g of the flour in a large bowl with the salt. Pour in the yeast mixture and mix thoroughly.
6. Add the egg and the milk and sugar mixture to the flour and then beat in the softened butter.
7. Mix everything into a dough, turn it onto a floured work surface and knead it, using the rest of the flour, until it is no longer sticky.
8. Gradually add the fruit and almonds whilst continuing to knead the dough.
9. Clean the large bowl and brush the inside with one tablespoon of the melted butter.
10. Brush the top of the dough with another two tablespoons of the melted butter and place it in the bowl.
11. Cover the dough with a clean cloth and leave it for two hours, or until it has doubled in size.
12. Punch down the dough and leave it to rest for ten minutes.
13. Roll the dough into a rectangle 12 x 8 ins (30 x 20 cms) and brush it with the remaining melted butter.
14. Fold two opposite sides of the rectangle towards the middle, overlapping them slightly. Press the joint gently to keep it in place.
15. Taper the ends of the loaf slightly and push the sides gently together to form a mound in the middle. The loaf should be about 3½ ins (9cm) wide and 14 ins (35cm) long.
16. Place the loaf on a floured baking sheet and brush it with any remaining melted butter. Leave it in a warm place for an hour or until it has doubled in size.
17. Pre-heat the oven to 375°F/190°C.
18. Bake the Stollen for 45 minutes or until it is brown and crusty.
19. Allow the Stollen to cool and then sift the icing sugar over the top.