I trained in a German konditorie, so we made plenty of these stollen every Christmas. They have become a bit of a tradition for me, and I still love that yeasty fruit bread flavour. Mostly I love that gorgeous almond centre. If you want to try something different the you should definitely have a go.
Marzipan stollen
Ingredients
100g mixed dried fruit with peel
180ml apple juice
7g dried yeast
250g plain flour, plus a little extra for dusting
30g blanched whole almonds
generous pinch of ground cinnamon
generous pinch star anise allspice
small pinch of ground cloves
75g cold marzipan, cut into small pieces
10g butter or vegan alternative, melted
1 Tbsp icing sugar
100ml rum
Method
Soak the dried fruit in 100ml rum. Gently warm the apple juice for a few mins in a pan, then add the yeast and leave to activate for 10-15 mins (it will start to bubble).
Place the flour in a bowl. Stir in the yeast and apple juice mixture to form a smooth dough, then cover and leave to prove somewhere warm until roughly doubled in size, about 1-2 hrs. You can also put the dough in the fridge to rise slowly overnight.
Add the fruit to the dough along with the nuts, spices, and marzipan. mix everything together, then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead until the fruit stays in the dough.
Shape the dough into an oval shape and place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to prove somewhere warm for 30 mins–1 hr until it has risen by about a quarter.
Heat oven to 180C. Bake the stollen for 20 mins, then reduce oven to 150C and bake for 25-30 mins more until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Remove the stollen from the oven and brush all over with the melted butter very generously … don’t skimp at all. Dust with the icing sugar and leave to cool completely before slicing. Store any remaining stollen well-wrapped in an airtight container.
