Dear Bakers,
For years, I have been baking the following recipe at holiday
time. It calls for diced citron, which is always available at my
local supermarkets from Thanksgiving through Christmas. Not this
year. I was all over the place, and no citron. I used diced lemon
peel, instead, and it turned out just fine. Did anyone else have
this problem? I saw that it was still listed as an ingredient in the
"mixed fruit and peel" containers, but not by itself.
Anyway, Merry Christmas!
STOLLEN
From the Betty Crocker International Cookbook,
Random House, copyright 1980
German Christmas Bread (Stollen)
The Germans have many recipes for Stollen; this one, from Dresden,
contains fruit, nuts and rum or brandy, and is one of the best-known
of Germany's Stollen recipes.
2 stollens
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1/2 cup diced citron
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup candied diced orange peel
1/4 cup brandy or rum
1 package active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (105 to 115 degrees F)
1/2 cup lukewarm milk (scalded, then cooled)
1/2 cup margarine or butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs
4 to 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped blanched almonds
1 tablespoon finely shredded lemon peel
2 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted
Powdered sugar
Mix citron, raisins, orange peel and brandy; let stand at least 1
hour. Drain; reserve brandy. Dissolve yeast in warm water in large
bowl. Stir in reserved brandy, the milk, 1/2 cup margarine, the
granulated sugar, salt, nutmeg, eggs and 2 cups of the flour. Beat
until smooth. Stir in brandied fruit mixture, almonds, lemon peel and
enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.
Turn dough onto lightly floured surface; knead until smooth and
elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up
. Cover; let rise in warm place until double, about 1 1/2 hours.
(Dough is ready if indentation remains when touched.
Punch down dough; divide into halves. Press 1 half into an oval,
about 10 x 7 inches. Brush with melted margarine. Fold lengthwise in
half; press folded edge firmly. Place stollen on greased cookie
sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. cover; let rise until double, 45
to 60 minutes. Brush with melted margarine. Heat oven to 375 F. Bake
until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Brush with melted margarine;
sprinkle with powdered sugar.
Notes from Ruth:
This bread takes a long time to rise since it is so rich. I give it a
lot more time than the recipe. Or use special yeast for sweet doughs.
I also make four small stollen with each batch, and make two batches
at a time. The small ones are better for giving, and are eaten up
before they get stale.
If you are going to the trouble to make something special, use
butter, not margarine. It's worth it.
I skip the powdered sugar--too messy.