About the Recipe
Stollen is a cake-like fruit bread made with yeast and flour and although it is sweet it does not have to include a lot of sugar. The sweetness comes from the dried fruits and marzipan and the rich taste comes from the butter and nuts.
Ingredients
500g Strong White Flour
100g Caster Sugar
10g fast action Yeast
10g Salt
150g Unsalted Butter, softened
250ml Whole Milk
½ Tsp Ground Nutmeg
½  Tsp Ground Cloves
½ tsp Vanilla Extract
2 drops Almond Extract
55g Blanched Flaked Almonds
200g Raisins
100g Currants
125g Mixed Peel
25g Butter, melted
250g Marzipan
To Serve
25g Butter, melted
2 Tbsp Icing Sugar
Preparation
Put the flour and sugar in a large bowl
Add the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other
Add the softened butter and 200ml of the milk and stir together
Add the remaining milk and knead well on a generously floured surface for 6–7 minutes, until smooth and pliable
Mix together the nutmeg, cloves, vanilla and almond extracts, almonds, dried fruit and mixed peel in a bowl
Add the dough on top and knead from the outside into the centre
When everything has been fully incorporated, return to the bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for 1–1½ hours in a warm place, until doubled in size
Flatten the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 45cm x 35cm
Brush with the melted butter
Roll out the marzipan to about 25cm x 15cm and place on top of the dough
Roll the dough up to enclose the marzipan and transfer to a lined baking sheet
Cover and leave to rise for 45 minutes–1 hour, until risen and doubled in size.
Pre-heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan and bake for 1 hour
Remove from the oven, brush with melted butter, and dust with icing sugar