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Stollen

This cake leavened with yeast encompasses everything that's rich and delightful such as butter, eggs, sugar, almonds and white flour. When this cake was invented in Germany these ingredients were scarce and very expensive so this really was the real deal when it came to luxury. Enjoy this cake with morning coffee or afternoon tea.

Ingredients

Measurement units: spinner

Preparation Time: 35 minutes (+ 3–4 hours proving)
Cooking Time: 45 minutes
Serves: makes 2 medium loaves

Method

  1. Put the dried fruit and peel into a saucepan and add the rum. Place this over a low heat until the liquid is just bubbling then remove it from the heat and place a piece of cling-film/plastic-wrap over the pan to prevent any more liquid from evaporating. Leave it to cool to room temperature.
    soaking the fruit
  2. In a large mixing bowl, weigh out the flour, salt, yeast, sugar and cinnamon and then mix them together.
    the dry ingredients
  3. Add the warm milk, lemon juice and the egg to the dry ingredients and mix it until the dough is smooth (about 5 minutes). If you are using a machine use the dough hook, if mixing by hand use a spoon or just your hands.
    the basic dough
  4. Cut the soft butter into cubes and then add it piece by piece to the dough, mixing until it is smooth and elastic.
  5. Strain the fruit through a sieve to remove any excess liquid then put it into the bowl with the orange and lemon zest.
    adding the fruit
  6. Mix in the fruit until it is just combined. Then tip the dough onto a work surface dusted with flour and shape the dough into a ball and place it into an oiled bowl.
    the dough before proving
  7. Cover the bowl with cling-film/plastic-wrap and leave the dough to rise for about 2-3 hours at room temperature or until it has doubled in size.
    the risen dough
  8. Make the marzipan.
  9. Divide the marzipan in half and roll it out into a roughly oval shape with a thickness of about ½cm.
    the rolled out marzipan
  10. Tip the dough out of the bowl onto a floured surface, divide it in half and gently press each lump out into an oval shape. The dough needs to be slightly larger than the marzipan.
    the rolled out dough
  11. Put the marzipan on top of the stollen dough.
    the marzipan with the dough
  12. Roll the dough and marzipan up together, starting at one of the longer sides of the oval.
    the shaped loaf
  13. Put the loaves onto a greased baking tray, seam side down, and leave them to rise at room temperature until they have doubled in size.
    the risen loaves
  14. Heat the oven to 200°c.
  15. Place the loaves into the middle of the oven and bake them for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 160°c and bake them for a further 35 minutes. The Stollen is ready when it feels light and has a golden brown surface.
    the cooked loaves
  16. Remove the Stollen from the oven and let them rest on the tray for 10 minutes.
  17. Melt the butter for the finish and paint it over the Stollen. Then dust it with the icing sugar, making sure that it is thoroughly covered.
    the stollen dredged with icing sugar
  18. When it has cooled completely, slice it and serve. It goes very well with coffee.
    a few slices of the finished stollen

Useful Information

Can it be frozen? Yes.
Can it be prepared in advance? Yes, it can be finished up to 1 week in advance.
Will leftovers be nice? Yes, for up to 1 week.

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