Name: Oma's Juicy Christmas Stollen
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 100 min
Yield: 1
Ingredients: 150 g raisins; 50 g candied orange peel (finely chopped); 50 g candied lemon peel (finely chopped); 0.5 tsp lemon zest (finely grated); 50 g almonds (ground); 60 ml rum; 425 g plain flour ((type 405)); 21 g fresh yeast ((½ cube)); 75 ml milk (lukewarm); 100 g butter (soft); 1 pcs egg ((size M)); 50 g sugar; 8 g vanilla sugar ((1 sachets)); 0.5 tsp cinnamon (ground); 40 g butter; 75 g icing sugar; salt (1 pinch); cardamom (1 pinch, ground); nutmeg (1 pinch, ground)

Several baked Joulutorttu made with puff pastry and jam filling with a little icing sugar on baking paper, with a sprig of fir beside them.

Method

7 Steps

1
Soak the fruit (60 mins)
Mix the raisins, candied orange peel, candied lemon peel, lemon zest and almonds with the rum in a bowl. Leave to soak for at least 60 minutes, or overnight if covered.
2
Prepare the pre-dough (15 mins)
Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the centre. Crumble in the yeast and mix with about 2 tbsp of the lukewarm milk and a small pinch of the measured sugar. Cover and leave to prove for 15 minutes.
3
Knead the yeast dough (5 mins + 30 mins proving time)
Add 100 g soft butter, the egg, remaining sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and the rest of the lukewarm milk to the flour. Knead for at least 5 minutes until smooth and supple. Work in the soaked fruit together with any remaining liquid and leave the dough covered to prove for 30 minutes.
4
Shape the stollen (30 mins proving time)
Shape all the dough into an elongated oval loaf. Flatten or roll out one long half a little more and fold the thicker side over it so the classic stollen shape forms, with one higher side and one flatter side. Place the single stollen on a prepared baking tray and leave covered to prove for a further 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200 °C top/bottom heat.
5
Bake the stollen (45–50 mins)
Place the stollen in the preheated oven and immediately reduce the temperature to 160 °C top/bottom heat. Bake for about 45–50 minutes until golden brown. If the surface browns too quickly, loosely cover with foil.
6
Finish with butter and icing sugar
Melt 40 g butter. First brush the hot stollen with some of the butter and leave it to cool completely. Then apply the remaining butter and generously dust the stollen with the 75 g icing sugar.
7
Wrap and mature (1–2 weeks)
Carefully wrap the completely cooled Christmas stollen in foil and pack it as airtight as possible in a suitable bag as well. Store in a cool, dry place, but not in the fridge. Ideally leave to mature for 1–2 weeks so it develops its full flavour. NUTRITION (ESTIMATED) Final weight: approx. 1.150 g | Per 100 g: approx. 365 kcal, 5,5 g protein, 55 g carbohydrate, 13,5 g fat. Note: The quantities were adjusted from the recipe for two stollen to one stollen; in particular, the butter (100 g + 40 g) and rum (60 ml) were rounded to neat values. The baking time refers to one stollen in the originally intended single size.