Christmas Stollen With Almonds Marzipan Recipes

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, white sugar, salt, butter, and 2 cups bread flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead in the currants, raisins, dried cherries, and citrus peel. Continue kneading until smooth, about 8 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the center of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it; pinch the seams together to seal. Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow loaf to cool on a wire rack. Dust the cooled loaf with confectioners' sugar, and sprinkle with the cinnamon.

ALMOND-FILLED STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine candied fruits and 1/2 cup rum; let stand, covered, 1 hour., In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. In a large bowl, combine milk, butter, sugar, salt, lemon zest, almond extract, remaining rum, yeast mixture and 4 cups flour; beat on medium speed until smooth. Cover and let stand in a warm place, about 30 minutes., Beat in eggs. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). Drain candied fruit, reserving rum for glaze. Reserve 1/2 cup candied fruit for topping. Stir almonds and remaining candied fruit into dough., Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch down dough; divide into 3 portions. On a greased baking sheet, roll each portion into a 12-in. circle. Crumble one-third of the almond paste over one-half of each circle. Fold dough partially in half, covering filling and placing top layer within 1 in. of bottom edge. Cover with kitchen towels and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Preheat oven to 375°., In a small bowl, whisk egg yolk and water; brush over loaves. Bake 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cover loosely with foil if tops brown too quickly. Remove from pans to wire racks to cool completely. , In a small bowl, mix reserved rum with enough confectioners' sugar to make a thin glaze. Drizzle over stollen. Sprinkle with reserved candied fruit.

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN WITH ALMONDS & MARZIPAN

Steps:

• Soak the dried fruit in 100ml of hot water. Gently warm the apple juice for a few mins in a pan, then add the yeast and leave to activate for 10-15 mins (it will start to bubble).
• Put the flour in a bowl. Stir in the yeast and apple juice mixture to form a smooth dough, then cover and leave to prove somewhere warm until roughly doubled in size, about 1-2 hrs. You can also put the dough in the fridge to rise slowly overnight.
• Drain the fruit and add to the dough along with the nuts, spices and marzipan. Squish everything together, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until the fruit stays in the dough.
• Shape the dough into a sausage shape and put it on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove somewhere warm for 30 mins-1 hr until it has risen by about a quarter.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Bake the stollen for 20 mins, then reduce oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2 and bake for 25-30 mins more until golden brown and firm to the touch.
• Remove the stollen from the oven and brush all over with the melted butter. Dust with the icing sugar and leave to cool completely before slicing. Store any remaining stollen, well wrapped, in an airtight container.

OMA'S MARZIPAN STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine 2 cups flour, sugar and yeast. In a small saucepan, heat milk and butter to 120°-130°. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Add lemon zest; beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky)., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., For filling, in a large bowl, beat almond pastry filling, almonds, milk and extract. Punch dough down; turn onto a floured surface. Divide into thirds. Roll each portion into a 15x6-in. rectangle. Spread each portion with a third of the filling to within 1/4 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long slide; pinch seam to seal. Place ropes on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a sharp knife, make a 1/2-in.-deep cut lengthwise down the center of each rope, stopping 1/2 in. from ends. Keeping cut surfaces facing up, braid ropes. Pinch ends to seal; tuck under., Cover with a kitchen towel; let rise in a warm place until almost doubled, about 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 375°. Bake until golden brown, 30-35 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool. Combine glaze ingredients to desired consistency; drizzle over stollen.

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN SUGAR BREAD

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk.
• Let stand until creamy (about 10 minutes).
• In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, white sugar, salt, butter and 2 cups bread flour; beat well.
• Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition.
• When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead in the currants, raisins, dried cherries, mixed peel and the ginger and spices.
• Knead until smooth (about 8 minutes).
• Place the dough in a lightly oiled large bowl, and turn to coat with oil.
• Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume (about 1 hour).
• Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
• Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.
• Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the centre of the dough.
• Fold the dough over to cover it.
• Pinch the seams together to seal.
• Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet.
• Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 60 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 Degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes.
• Reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) and bake for a further 30- 40 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Allow loaf to cool on a wire rack.
• Dust the cooled loaf with the icing sugar and sprinkle with cinnamon.