Stollen

~ Mary ~

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I’ve been working on stollen every weekend this month!  You may have even read my about my endeavors on Facebook.  I was bound and determined to emulate the Stollen from New Glarus bakery this year.  After trying stollen recipes, I was slightly closer and about stollened out.  The first one I tried had a most excellent flavor, but dang, it was so dense.  The other two turned out only fairly okay, not enough spice and sort of fluffy.  I wanted one that was somewhere right in the middle.  So, off I went again to make the perfect recipe.

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I even made my own candied citrus!

I tried two NYTimes recipes and one from Food.com.

Here’s the NYT one that had the best flavor but didn’t rise AT ALL.

The Food.com one was only fair and using bread flour made no difference at all.

Then I tried the one in the new NYT Cookbook by Amanda Hesse, what a mamoth loaf that was!

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After much thought and consideration this was my last and most successful round.  I’m never going to buy the New Glarus Stollen again, so I won’t know if I’ve hit the mark or not (I just moved the mark).  This way I’ll always get it spot on!

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Plan ahead this bread takes a lot of time.  Letting the loaves sit a couple of days really makes a HUGE difference.  The flavors really have a chance to become enhanced.

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Stollen!

Makes three medium 1 1/2 pound loaves or two large loaves

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The night before you plan on making this masterpiece, soak these items in a bowl or a ziploc bag at room temp.:

1/2 cup craisins or raisins

1/2 cup golden raisins

1/2 cup dried cherries

1/3 cup dark rum

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In a separate dish soak over-night:

1 cup slivered almonds, lightly toasted

1/3 Cup Orange Juice or water

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The day you plan on making the stollen:

In a large owl combine:

3/4 Cup Scalded Whole Milk

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1 Cup Soft Butter cut in pieces

1/3 Cup Sugar

Stir until butter is melted.  Let cool until lukewarm

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In a small bowl combine:

1/4 Cup Warm Water

2 packages Active Dry Yeast

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Stir to dissolve, let stand until it gets foamy,  add it into the milk mixture, then mix in:

1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp Ground Cardamom

1 1/2 tsp  Freshly Grated Nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp Freshly Lemon Zest

1 1/2 tsp  Vanilla

2 egg Yolks slightly beaten

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Slowly stir in:

4 cups all-purpose flour

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Get it to a nice soft dough that can be kneaded.  Turn out on a lightly floured surface and knead in soaked fruit, nuts and:

1/4 cup chopped candied ginger

1/4 Cup chopped Candied Citrus optional, but it’s WONDERFUL! Chop it into tiny bits.

Knead until fruit is distributed evenly and dough is smooth, adding more flour if necessary.  Place in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise until doubled in size, 2 1/2 -3 hours.

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Punch down dough, turn out onto floured surface, shape into two loaves about 12″x18″ place a roll of:

Marzipan

slightly off-center, fold the dough over and pinch down the edges.

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Place on an insulated baking sheet or just double up a couple of sheets.  Cover with saran and let rise until just slightly under double in size 2+ hours.

Brush loaves with melted butter.

Bake at 350° for about an hour.  Temp inside loaf should be 190° when they are done.

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Meanwhile, whisk together :

1/2 Cup Sugar

2  tsp Ground Ginger

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When stollen is done, transfer loaves to a wire rack (leave stollen on pan). While still hot, brush stollen with:

1/2 Cup of Melted Butter, letting butter soak into loaves.

Sprinkle ginger sugar on tops and sides of loaves.

When loaves are completely cool, store in ziploc bags over night.

The next day, sift

1 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

over loaves, rolling to coat bottom and sides evenly with sugar. Wrap each loaf in plastic or ziploc and let sit at room temperature for at least 2 days before sifting another

1/2 cup confectioners sugar over loaves and serving.