Christmas Stollen - Fresh From The Oven

Yep, time for another addition to my recipe collection thanks to Fresh From The Oven. This one comes to you direct from my 'sick' bed, clever clogs that I am managed to slip on some ice this morning and I've thrown my back out - grrrrrrrrrrrr! I'm hoping that a hot water bottle and some time to rest up will mean I'm back in the kitchen quick smart. So pleased I didn't leave this month's challenge till today to make like as is my usual form.

Jules (formerly from Domestic Goddess in Training) chose Simon Rimmer's recipe for Christmas Stollen for the December challenge and I have to admit that I've never actually eaten Stollen before so i wasn't quite sure what to expect from this one. Only Hubby's brother likes marzipan in this family and he lives all the way down in London so I opted for a marzipan-less version which still turned out wonderfully moist and flavourful. The only other change I made to the recipe was to substitute the flaked almonds with some chocolate because I had run out of the first and always have a plentiful supply of the second! I know what you're all thinking, but I honestly did run out of the almonds!

Stollen

100ml warm milk

6g fast action yeast or 2 tsp dried yeast or 20g fresh yeast

Pinch of salt

1 tsp caster sugar

225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp ground mixed spice

200g mixed dried fruit (including glace cherries)

25g flaked almonds (ahem - chocolate!)

50g unsalted butter

1 free range egg, beaten

250g marzipan (optional in this case!)

To Finish

Rum

25g butter, melted

50g icing sugar

Place the milk and yeast into a bowl and mix well. Leave to sit for 5-6 mins.

Meanwhile, sift the salt, sugar, flour and mixed spice into a large bowl. Add the dried fruit (I used a mixture of sultana's, glace cherries, and dried cranberries), almonds (chocolate!) and butter and mix well. Then stir in the yeasty milk and mix well.

Add the egg and stir to form a dough. Knead the dough for 5-6 mins, then cover and leave to prove for 20 mins. Uncover the dough and turn out onto a clean, floured work surface. Knock the dough back to reduce the volume, then knead the dough for 3-4 mins.

Push the dough out by hand into a flat oval shape about 23cm x 18cm. If using marzipan, roll it into a sausage shape about 6cm shorter than the dough. Place the marzipan into the center of the dough, then fold over the sides of the dough to seal in the marzipan. Then fold in the ends of the dough to contain the marzipan and help give the dough shape. Place the Stollen seal side down onto a greased baking tray. Cover and place somewhere warm to prove for one hour.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the Stollen on the baking tray into the oven to bake for 40 mins, or until golden brown and cooked through.

To finish, remove the Stollen from the oven, brush with the rum, then melted butter and dust liberally with icing sugar immediately. Allow the Stollen to cool, then serve in slices.

Makes 1 loaf

In summary, its much easier to make Stollen than I ever thought it would be, I'm thinking of making it for Christmas presents in next year's hampers. The only thing I think I did wrong was in the first step with the butter. The recipe never said if it was to be melted and mixed in, at room temp and rubbed in, or if it was to be in pea size pieces and just left as is. I ended up melting it and adding it in as directed but this made for a very wet dough which meant that I had to add vast quantities of flour to the mixture while I was kneading it so it didn't stick to the board. The final product doesn't seem to have suffered any, although as I said at the start, I've never tried Stollen before so I've not really got a measuring stick on this one. If anybody could let me know how the butter is to be added I would be most appreciative ;0)

To see everybody else's wonderful Stollen creations please head over to Fresh From The Oven tomorrow.