This is my first go at Christstollen, the traditional German Christmas cake. Pretty cool, huh? It’s an enriched dough generously folded through with candied peel, raisins and marzipan and coated in icing sugar.
Ingredients (for 2 big loafs):
50 g chopped almonds | 500 g raisins | 100g mixed candied peel | 50 ml Rum | 400 g plain flour | 250 ml milk | 1 cube fresh yeast | 3 tbsp honey | 450 g butter | 1 tsp salt | 100 g marzipan | 1 vanilla pod | 1 unwaxed lemon | 150 g icing sugar
Instructions:
1. Soak chopped almonds in boiling water for 10 mins
2. Coat raisins and peel in rum and stir drained almonds through the mix
3. Combine 200g flour, lukewarm milk, honey and broken up yeast to a pre-dough
4. Leave to prove until the surface cracks
5. Combine remaining flour, 200 g of room-temperature butter flakes, grated marzipan, salt and vanilla
6. Knead for 8 mins (a food processor or handmixer are very helpful here as the dough is very wet)
7. Leave to prove until doubled in size
8. Halve, then knead on a floured surface and shape into two logs
9. Flatten and fold one side over towards the middle for its tradional shape
10. Bake in a hot oven at 200°C for 15 mins
11. Turn back the temperature to 180°C and bake for another 45 mins
12. Melt the remaining butter
13. Coat the hot Stollen generousely
14. Dust large quantities of icing sugar on the buttery Stollen
15. Leave to cool
16. Coat in more icing sugar
17. EAT!
