Rosinen Stollen
Servings 18 pieces
Ingredients
- 2-1/4 lbs flour
- 3-1/2 tbsp yeast
- 1-1/2 cup milk
- 2/3 lb butter
- 1 cup sugar
- salt
- lemon peel
- 5 cups raisins
- 1 cup candied lemon peel
- 1/3 cup bitter almonds
Instructions
- On the day before baking sift the flour into a bowl and keep warm.
- On baking day make a depression in the middle of the flour. Whisk the yeast with 1 Tbsp sugar in the warm milk, and pour into the depression and stir with a little of the flour mix forming a thick paste. Cover with flour and let rise.
- Stir the softened butter, and spread on the dough; do the same with the sugar and all the spices. Work all the ingredients through the risen dough very carefully and let rise 30-60 minutes, not letting it get too warm.
- Stollen can be made in different shapes, for example 'cut' and 'open.' For a cut Stollen make a long loaf and, with a sharp knife, cut lengthwise down the middle 1/2 inch deep. For an open stollen, also form a loaf, but then press a long, wide groove into the loaf using either a rolling pin or the edge of the hand pushing slightly to the side as you go along. Push the narrow side up.
- Allow the shaped stollen to rise once more for only a short time (about 15 minutes) and bake at medium heat for at least 60 minutes.
- When the stollen comes out of the oven, brush it immediately with melted butter and sprinkle with sugar. To create a thick sugar crust, do this repeatedly.
- Wrap the cooled stollen in white paper or cloth, and refrigerate. It should rest for at least 1 week before being cut.
Notes
The amount of liquid must be adjusted to the swelling capacity of the flour. It might be necessary to add somewhat more milk than mentioned to the dough. The dough should not be too soft, though, otherwise the Stollen will flatten out. Coriander may be substituted for cinnamon, cloves and ginger. Instead of butter, you can use and margarine or clarified butter, or half tallow and half oil.
This Rosinenstollen can be made with raisins only or half raisins and half currants. Rather than raisins, you can cut dried fruit into small cubes and put these into the dough. Nuts and pumpkin seeds may be substituted for sweet almonds, fruit seeds for bitter almonds, and pumpkin for lemon peel.
