A Stollen Christmas

Yesterday I made two of these “bad boys” – one for the freezer to be rejuvenated Christmas morning for breakfast, and one to enjoy now – because who wants to wait another month?

I posted the picture on Facebook and several people asked for the recipe – so here goes. I’ve made a few small modifications and FYI, I do not measure too carefully, especially the rum. I digress.

I really don’t like raisins, so I substituted cherries. Also, the recipe calls for cottage cheese. You can use that, or Quark if it’s available. I get mine at #ArmadaleFarmDairyProducts.

Also, although I made two of these, I did not double the recipe. I made one and while it was baking, I made the second. You’ll see why below.

OK, so, the ingredients are:

• 2 1/2 cups regular all-purpose flour
• 2 generous teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon mace
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom
• 3/4 cup blanced, slice almonds
• 1/2 cup cottage cheese or Quark
• 1 egg
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 (plus a bit) tablespoons rum
• 1/2 cup currants
• 1/2 cup golden raisins (like I said, I don’t like them so I use cherries)
• 1/4 cup chopped candied lemon peel
• 3 tablespoons melted butter
• 2 tablesoons vanilla sugar

2-3 days (or longer) before making stollen bury a split vanilla bean in 1 cup of sugar and cover container tightly. Let it stand until you need it.

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, mace, cardamom and almonds in the large bowl on a stand mixer.

In a separate bowl or food processor, combine the cottage cheese/Quark, egg, vanilla, almond extract, rum, currants, raisins (or cherries – or both if you prefer!) and lemon peel. Mix together and then pour into dry ingredients, mixing until all ingredients are thoroughly moistened.

Mold the (very heavy) dough into a ball, place it on a floured board and knead it 6-10 turns until dough is smooth.

Roll the dough out on the board to form an oval about 8 1/2″ x 10″. With a rolling pin, lightly crease the dough, just off centre, parallelto the long side. Brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of the melted butter. Fold the smaller section over the larger one. Place it on a parchament paper lined cookie pan. Bake at 350º for about 45 minutes until crust is well browned and the inside, tested with a toothpick, is done. Brush the remaining butter over the entire top of the stollen and then sprinkle with the vanilla sugar.

Cool on a wire rack. Can be served warm. Wrap airtight to let it mellow for 2-3 days or freeze it.

To reheat, wrap the loaf in foil, place it in a 325º oven for about 30 minutes. Prepare to enjoy – or make another loaf!

By the way, don’t be sampling the rum while you’re making it – could cause unpredictable results!