As we were making these dishes in December, it was only right that stollen was on the list! We found a recipe from The Daring Gourmet (who is originally from Germany!) which looked perfect to try. Tip to the wise – if you want this for a specific day, make sure you plan ahead as leaving the final product to infuse just adds to the flavour!
Stollen is a sweet, spicy and fruity bread, known around the world to be associated with Christmas but would be delicious at any time of year!
The first step was to infuse the fruit with rum! For this of course you can use any rum you prefer, but we went for Lamb’s Spiced rum. This has a spicy vanilla quality to it which really added to the rich flavours of the stollen.
While the fruit infuses with the rum, it’s time to make the dough. We were able to put our new Kenwood stand mixer to good use for this one by using the dough hook attachment.
Once the dough has been kneaded and appears smooth, leave it to prove before adding the fruit.
Once the fruit is added, combine it thoroughly to ensure an even distribution before the shaping steps begin!
As this recipe makes 2 stollen loaves, split the dough in half ready to add the marzipan. Roll the halves out flat and roll a cylinder of marzipan into each half to finish off the preparation steps.
Once everything is combined leave the final loaves to rest again before cooking. Leave them to they have rest and rise again, then brush them with melted butter before putting them in the oven.
Take them out of the oven when they’re golden brown and they’ll be ready to cover in sugar!
This can be wrapped up and rest for up to 2 weeks for a more intense flavour, or you can dig right in!
The stollen is best served next to a Christmas tree! Please let us know if you give this a go as we’d love to hear from you.
For the starter – click here
For the main – click here