Stollen

I'm learning to be a little cautious in publishing recipes for foods from other parts of the world, after my recipe for M'hanncha caused concern. I am more than likely to get things wrong and my recipe for stolen is no exception, I can already hear roars of laughter from Hamburg to Munich. The result I have to say though was pleasing enough and far better than the poor examples available in the shops over here.

You will need:
400g of Strong White Flour
60g of sugar
70g of soft unsalted butter
2 eggs
7g of instant yeast
9g of salt
Enough milk to form a soft dough, roughly 150ml
200g of mixed dried fruit and peel
I teaspoon of vanilla
1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon of mixed spice
200g of marzipan Click here for recipe

Mix all the ingredients apart from the fruit,candied peel and marzipan, to form a soft sticky dough. Add the dried fruit and peel, I used a mixture of Lexia raisins, golden sultanas, golden glacé cherries and candied orange peel and mix well into the dough to distribute evenly. Knead on a lightly floured surface for a few minutes before leaving in a bowl, covered to prove for and hour or so.
Divide the dough in half, press each half out into a circular shape, roll out the marzipan into two sausage shapes and place each piece in a disc of dough, cover the marzipan to form a roughly oval shape and leave to rise for a further hour or so until risen but not doubled in size. Bake at 180 C for 35 to 40 minutes, cover the loaves with a piece of kitchen foil after 20 minutes if the tops are beginning to brown too quickly. Cool and decorate with a little icing made of icing sugar and lemon juice and some glacé cherries. I added a few slivers of pistachio for colour.

Notes:

I find this dough being enriched with eggs and sugar doesn't rise a great deal, unlike most breads or even brioche or panattone, but I think s it's all the better for being a little more dense. If a lighter texture is what you enjoy, add a further sachet (7g) of instant yeast.