Christmas Wreath Stollen Recipes

STOLLEN

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, granulated sugar, salt, mace, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in milk and melted butter. Add dissolved yeast and the eggs. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth.
• Drain raisins and currants. Add raisins, currants, almonds, citron, orange peel, apricots, and lemon zest to dough, and continue kneading until incorporated, about 10 minutes. If dough is sticky, knead in more flour.
• Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours. Punch down dough, divide into 6 even pieces, and roll each piece into a 15-inch-long log. Braid 3 logs together, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining 3 logs. Cover with plastic, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 2 hours more.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake stollen until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Beat together confectioners' sugar and milk. Drizzle stollen with icing just before serving.

CHRISTMAS WREATH STOLLEN

Steps:

• 1. In two separate bowls, soak currants in rum or rum extract and golden raisins in orange juice; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, salt,sugar, and nutmeg; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup milk and 10 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes. Pour 1/4 cup warm water into a small bowl; sprinkle with yeast, and let stand 2 to 3 minutes; stir to dissolve yeast completely. Add the dissolved yeast, warm milk mixture, and eggs to the flour mixture. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, and knead until fairly smooth. Transfer dough to a large bowl. Add currants and raisins in their liquid, orange zest, lemon zest, citron, apricots, and chopped pecans, and then work them into the dough with your hands. Transfer dough to work surface, and knead for about 10 minutes. If the dough is sticky, knead in more flour, but be careful not to overwork. Butter a large bowl with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours. Cover dough with a clean kitchen towel; set aside to rise for 30 minutes. Dough will rise only a little bit. Brush dough with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 30 inches long. With a sharp knife, cut into 3 30 inch strips. Carefully braid the three strips together. Carefully transfer dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet; join ends together, pinching with fingers if necessary to make it stick, forming a large circle. Bake until golden brown and crusty, about 45 minutes, rotating halfway through Remove to a large wire rack to cool.
• 2. Drizzle the milted icing over the top and decorate with candied cherries and pecan halves. You can pipe on a bow with red icing or you can buy a plastic bow to cover the area pinched together.