stollen

Last year, I bought a stollen which I posted about here. This year, I was determined to make my own. I found a recipe in the book that my brother gave me and gave it a try.

Somehow it took way longer than making flaxseed rolls....It doesn't look anything like the picture in the book, but it sure does taste good, despite the fact that I ran out of vanilla essence and didn't have the right candied fruits or sliced almonds. Plus, it got REALLY big while baking in the oven!

Here's the recipe if you'd like to give it a try:
Stollen, from "The Essential Baking Cookbook"--makes 1
1/3 cup (80 ml/2.75 fl oz) lukewarm milk
2 teaspoons sugar
7g (1/4 oz) sachet dried yeast
125g (4 oz) butter, softened
1/3 cup (90g/3 oz)caster sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla essence
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups (375g/12oz) white bread flour
1/2 cup (80g/2.75 oz) raisins
1/2 cup (75g/2.50 oz) currants
1/2 cup (95g/3 oz)mixed peel
1/2 cup (60g/2 oz) slivered almonds
30g (1 oz) butter, melted
icing sugar, for dusting

1. Put the milk, 2 tsp sugar and yeast with 1/3 cup warm water in a small bowl and mix well. Leave in a warm, draught-free place for 10 minutes or until bubble appear on the surface. The mixture should be frothy and slightly increased in volume. If your yeast doesn't foam it is dead, so you will have to discard it and start again.

2. Beat the butter and sugar with electric beaters until light and creamy, then beat in the egg and vanilla. Add the yeast mixture, cinnamon and almost all the flour and mix to a soft dough, adding more flour if necessary. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap or a damp tea towel and leave in a warm, draught-free place for 1 hour 45 minutes or until doubled in volume.

3. Knock back the dough by punching it to expel the air. Press it out to a thickness of about 1.5cm(5/8 inch). Sprinkle the fruit and nuts over the dough, then gather up and knead for a few minutes to mix the fruit and nuts evenly through the dough.

4. Shape the dough into an oval about 18cm (7 inches) wide and 30 cm (12 inches) long. Fold in half lengthways, then press down to flatten slightly, with the fold slightly off centre on top of the loaf. Place on the tray, cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Preheat the oven to moderate 180C(350F/Gas 4). Lightly grease a baking tray.

5. Bake the dough for 40 minutes or until golden. As soon as it comes out of the oven, brush with the melted butter, allowing each brushing to be absorbed until you have used up all the butter. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar.

NOTES: After typing this recipe out, I realized that I forgot to add 1/3 cup warm water (it isn't noted in the list of ingredients and I tend to skim recipes...) Still, it was a good experience to try making this. And we'll enjoy it for breakfast tomorrow!

Hope your week is going well!