Long-time lurker, some-time poster, and always "enjoyer" of this
bread list. While I am not willing to part with all of my secrets for
an authentic German Christstollen, here is a recipe for making 3
1-1/4 pound stollen (the perfect size, I think):
1 cup warm milk or cream
3/4 cup butter, softened (NOT melted - this is important)
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon rum (or 1 teaspoon rum extract, but the real stuff is better!)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
5 cups all purpose flour (sometimes more, sometimes less)
2 tablespoons active dry yeast
1/2 cup finely chopped blanched almonds
3/4 cup finely chopped candied orange peel
3/4 cup finely chopped candied lemon peel
1 cup dark raisins
1/2 cup golden raisins
I only use my bread machine(s) for kneading stollen, and I have got
the timing down pretty well. If you have a food processor, you can
process the almonds and the orange and lemon peels with some of the
flour, and save yourself A LOT of time. It is very important to chop
the peels - it makes for a prettier stollen and it spreads out the
wonderful flavor throughout the dough.
I put all ingredients into the bread pan through the yeast, holding
back about 1/2 cup of the flour to use in chopping the nuts and
peels. While the bread machine does its thing, I chop the nuts and
peels in the food processor. When the chopping is done, I add the
nuts and peels to the machine (yes, while it's running). DO NOT add
the raisins until your machine is about 7 minutes away from finishing
the kneading cycle (before the first rise). If you put them in too
early, you will have very small pieces of raisin throughout the
dough, and it just doesn't look very appetizing. Add the raisins
slowly in order to give the machine time to incorporate them. You may
need to help things along a little by moving the very heavy ball of
dough around.
After the dough cycle is done, let the dough sit for another 15 to 30
minutes (or longer, if you like). Take it out of the machine onto a
lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into three equal parts.
With each ball of dough, pat the dough into a long oval shape,
tapered at the ends. Make a small ridge on the long sides of the
oval. Roll one long side toward the other long side, until you reach
the ridge, tucking in the tapered sides a bit as you go along. Press
down to flatten slightly and transfer to a lightly greased baking
sheet. Allow to rise for about 1/2 hour in a warm place, or place in
a cold oven and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes. The loaves should
be golden brown. If loaves begin to brown too early, lower the oven
rack and/or cover the loaves with foil.
Immediately after removing the loaves from the oven, slather them
with 1/4 to 1/3 cup melted butter, and dust liberally with powdered
sugar flavored with vanilla sugar. This last step is essential for
the keeping the loaves fresh and delicious for a long, long time. In
fact, in Germany it is common to eat the last stollen of the season at Easter!
Enjoy this traditional Christmas treat, and Frohes Fest!
Corina