Why it's Called 'Stollen'

Doesn't this look delicious? It is. Way too delicious. And now I also know why it's called 'Stollen.' Because by the time you take the first bite of this delicious pastry, it has actually stolen a good five hours of your life! No kidding. It is the fussiest thing!

So why did I bother? Well, this is all the fault of Lorraine, Scott, and Matthew, who sent us a box of stollen.

It was amazing! We savored every single melt-in-your-mouth morsel and I knew right then that I had to learn how to make this stuff.

 Dried fruit, soaking in brandy

 The 'sponge' just before fermenting

 The dough ball

 Patted out and ready to apply the almond paste

 Shaped into a crescent, or in this case, a boomerang

The final product, sprinkled with powdered sugar and sliced

I must say that the kitchen smelled fantastic when the stollen was baking. And it does taste wonderful, although mine is no competition for the stollen that we received as a gift. I think they must sprinkle magic on it. Or maybe it just seemed better because it was a gift and I hadn't spent five hours monkeying around with a fussy recipe.

For those of you who would like to try your hand at this delightful treat, I'm sharing the recipe I found online:

Christmas Stollen:  Okay, let's make that JANUARY STOLLEN.

The almond paste, which can be made ahead of time (otherwise this would be a six hour project!) and stored in the refrigerator to use within a week. (Actually, I had some I'd made and stored in the freezer):

Ingredients:

10 oz dried blanched almonds
10 oz powdered sugar
5 oz granulated sugar
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 cup water

Instructions:

Make a sugar syrup by placing the water, sugar, and corn syrup in a saucepan. Stir it to combine. Bring it to a boil and let it boil for a few moments. Let it cool.

Place the almonds in a food processor and process them to a fine powder. Add the powdered sugar. With the food processor running, slowly add the sugar syrup until the mixture forms a paste.

Store the almond paste tightly covered. If you will be storing it for more than a week, store in the refrigerator.

Now on to the Stollen itself:

STOLLEN:

    Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves. I doubled the following recipe to get two large loaves.

    Sponge
    1/2 cup milk
    1/2 cup all-purpose flour
    4-5 teaspoons (or 2 packets) instant or active dry yeast

    Fruit
    2 cups dried fruit (raisins, golden raisins, dried cherries, dried apricots, etc.)

    1/2 cup Grand Marnier, brandy, rum, or schnapps
    1 tablespoon orange or lemon extract and/or grated lemon or orange rind

    Dough
    2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
    1 tablespoon sugar
    3/4 teaspoon salt
    1 teaspoon cinnamon
    1 egg
    4 tablespoons (1/2 a stick) butter, softened
    1/4 to 1/2 cups water
    1/2 cup almond slivers or marzipan (I used almond paste.)

    Topping
    Butter or oil
    powdered sugar

Warm the milk to approximately 100 degrees. Mix the yeast into the milk and stir into the flour. Cover with plastic wrap and ferment for 1 hour until the sponge is very foamy.

While the sponge is fermenting, combine the dried fruit and the liqueur. (I used dried blueberries, dried cherries, dried apricots, and raisins.)

When the sponge is ready, combine the remaining flour, salt, sugar, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the sponge, egg, softened butter, and enough water to form a soft but not sticky dough. Stir in the dried fruit and knead in a mixer or by hand for 5 to 10 minutes.

Place the dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic or a damp towel, and set aside to rise for 45 minutes to an hour.

On a floured surface, shape the dough into something like a rectangle, either by rolling it out or pressing it with your hands.

Place the marzipan or slivered almonds (or almond paste) in the center of the loaf. Fold the dough closed and shape the loaf into something resembling a crescent.

Cover the loaf loosely with plastic and set it aside to rise for approximately an hour to an hour and a half. While it is rising, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When fully risen, bake the stollen for approximately 20 minutes. Rotate it (I have no idea why this is necessary) and bake it until the internal temperature is approximately 190 degrees. That would be about 15 or 20 minutes. (Check after 15. I wish I had.)

Remove the stollen from the oven. While still hot, brush the top of the loaf with butter or vegetable oil and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Wrap and store out of sight, or I can almost promise that it will be gone before you've had a chance to share it with anyone!

And finally, this recipe was 'stolen' from the world wide web.

Thanks again to Lorraine, Scott, and Matthew!!


This post is linked to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday
and Tasty Tuesday Parade of Foods
and Tuesdays at the Table
and Tasty Tuesdays