Amiss Christmas Stollen Recipes

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, white sugar, salt, butter, and 2 cups bread flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead in the currants, raisins, dried cherries, and citrus peel. Continue kneading until smooth, about 8 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the center of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it; pinch the seams together to seal. Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow loaf to cool on a wire rack. Dust the cooled loaf with confectioners' sugar, and sprinkle with the cinnamon.

AMIS'S CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

Steps:

• Stollen:.
• Combine the yeast with warm water (110 F). Note: If you're using compressed yeast, the water needs to be at 85°F.
• Combine the milk, butter, sugar, salt and cardamom; cool to lukewarm.
• Stir in 2 c of flour; beat well. Add the softened yeast and egg; beat well.
• Stir in the fruits, peels and nuts.
• Add enough of the remaining flour to make a soft dough.
• Turn out on a slightly floured surface. Knead for about 8-10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.
• Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the entire surface of the the dough.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 1/2 hours, or until double.
• Punch down; turn out on a lightly floured surface.
• Divide into 3 equal parts.
• Cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
• Roll each of the 3 sections into a 10 x 16 inch rectangle.
• Without stretching, fold the long side over to within 1 inch of the opposite side; seal the edge (you can pinch it together, or brush with a bit of beaten egg or warm milk if you wish).
• Place on a greased baking sheet.
• Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until almost double again.
• Preheat the oven to 375 and bake for 15 - 20 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let cool slightly and place onto large pieces of wax paper, plastic wrap, platters, etc, each loaf on it's own separate surface.
• You don't want to get the glaze everywhere.
• Glaze:.
• Note: You can easily half the glaze. My family doubled it because of our huge sweet tooth. (It's really pretty too. It has a daisy on it. :D).
• Combine the sugar, water and the butter. Brush or pour over the stollen.
• It will be runny at first so you may have to spoon any that gooped onto your platter or counter back up onto the loaf.
• You can leave it as it is or decorate it however you wish.
• I always make pretty flowers out of bits of fruit and cherries or sliced almonds. Such as a flower made with slices of almonds for the petals, bits of candied cherries for the center and citron or green candied cherries for the leaves and stems. Very pretty.
• Let the loaves sit until the glaze has set (it will still be slightly squishy to the touch) and then wrap in plastic wrap to keep them fresh until it's time to serve them.
• That's another reason we add so much glaze since it helps keep the bread moist.
• Place the loaves in a cool dark place or they even freeze well.
• I put the serving size at 24, which would be 8 generous slices per loaf but you will probably get more out of it.
• Note: Yeast equivalents are One package = 2 1/4 teaspoons = 1/4 ounce = 1 compressed cake.