Stollen (Christmas)

Sigh.... That was yet another long break from blogging. No wait, I wasn't being lazy, I have perfectly legitimate reasons this time! Yup, sister and me finally met up in Melbourne and we had a lovely time, eating, shopping, sightseeing, partying, everything together! But just 2 days after I came home, a water pipe burst and flooded the whole house! We had to call in professionals who deals with waterlogged carpets. Thank goodness it wasn't waste water! Still, we had to shift all furnitures to the garage, so they can suck the water and get their industrial blowers/dryers in to dry the carpets. So fortunately... I mean unfortunately, we had to stay at a hotel for 2 days. Oh oh but it didn't stop there, there's the cleaning, shifting back, yada yada.

I swear this was the first thing I did when we got everything back to the way it was. To make up for the lost time, here's a fantastic recipe to the traditional German celebratory cake for Christmas -- Stollen.

A brief introduction for those new to Stollen. It is a dense, heavy, bread-like "fruitcake", similar to its far more commercialised Italian counterpart, Panettone. While both contain candied/mixed fruits, has similar recipes and making process, Panettone usually calls for lesser butter, fruits and has a lighter texture than Stollen else it will never rise to its expected height and retain its characteristic cupola shape.

Stollen (makes 2 medium loaves - 7"x 9")
(slightly modified from foodnetwork)

Fruits
 175g     Mixed Candied Fruits
 145g     Raisins
   45g     Dark Rum

1. Combine the above, cover and set aside. Shake or stir the mixture every so often to coat the fruit with the rum.

Sponge
     7g     Instant Yeast
   60g     Warm water, about 40°C
 160g     Warm milk, about 40°C
     7g     Honey
 125g     Plain flour

2. In the mixer bowl, sprinkle the yeast in the water to soften. Add the warm milk, honey and flour to the yeast. Cover the sponge with plastic wrap and let rise until light and full of bubbles, about 30 minutes.

Main Dough
 130g     Honey
     1      Egg, lightly beaten
 115g     Butter, unsalted
 1 tbsp   Lemon zest
    6g     Salt
1/2 tsp   Grounded Nutmeg
   45g     Almonds, roughly chopped
   25g     Pistachios, roughly chopped

375g - 500g     Plain flour

3. Add to sponge, the fruit mixture, honey, egg, butter, zest, salt, grounded nutmeg, nuts, and 250g of the flour to the sponge. Using the paddle, beat the mixture on medium low speed for 2 mins.

4. Gradually add the remaining flour, about 30g at a time, until the dough begins to pull away from the side of the bowl. 

5. Change to the dough hook. Continue adding flour, 1 tbsp at a time until the dough just begins to clean the bowl. Then knead 4-5 mins on medium-low.

6. Place dough in an oiled bowl, lightly coat entire dough with oil. Cling wrap, or cover with a tightly woven towel and let rise until doubled, for about 1 hour.

Filling
   30g     Butter, unsalted, melted
     5g     Grounded Cinnamon
   40g     Castor Sugar

7. Combine grounded cinnamon and castor sugar.

8. On your lightly oiled work surface, divide dough into 2 and roll each into a 7"x 9" oval. Brush melted butter over the top of the dough. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the dough. Starting from lengthwise (long side), roll the dough into a log, lightly pinch to seal the seam to help the loaf keep its shape during rising and baking. Repeat for the other half.

9. Carefully lift and place the logs onto a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Cling wrap, or cover with a tightly woven towel and let rise for 45 mins.

Preheat oven to 190°C
10. Bake for 25 minutes until the internal temperature of the bread reaches 88°C. Remove immediately and cool on a wired rack.

Topping
   60g     Confectioner's Sugar

11. Sprinkle heavily with confectioner's sugar just before serving.

Thoughts: Although considered a "fruit cake", the texture is really more bread like with tight crumbs and a subtle fruity, nutty aroma. Surprisingly, even with the thick coat of confectioner's sugar, it is only mildly sweet for me and for some reason, weirdly addictive. I think I can include more fruits and nuts the next time I bake these. For those who are used to sweet sweets, this will be fairly bland. To fix that, you're welcome to use more sugar with the cinnamon for the filling.

A more common, relatively modern approach, is to wrap the dough around a rope of Marzipan before the second rise. If you plan on doing so, then there's no need for the cinnamon sugar. The omission of marzipan is one of the main reason why I ultimately chose this particular recipe. Even when I found countless "authentic" Italian nonna recipes. I was just too worried about winding up with an overwhelmingly sweet bread that only the bin gets to eat. Anyway I thought this rendition with cinnamon sugar looks good too, with a faint brownish circle within.

 

Another idea I saw online was to proof the dough in a tube tin and decorate it as a wreath. Due to time constraint, I didn't manage to get holly sprigs, and they ended up looking like giant donuts. Hahahaha equally yummy though!

This bread is really sturdy; they can last up to 6 months in the freezer. If you would like to savour them slowly over the months, do not dust with confectioner's sugar or icing before freezing. To serve, thaw the bread to room temperature before baking it for 5-7 mins at 190°C. Keep an eye to prevent it from over browning and only dust on the confectioner's sugar right before serving.

Frohe Weihnachten!!

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