Christmas is not the same without a slice or two of Stollen. This Orange, Almond and Cranberry Stollen is a lighter version of the more traditional Christmas Cake usually eaten in Britain for Christmas.
Do not be put off by the length of the recipe, there is a lot of time when the dough is rising. It is not as daunting as it seems.
Fruit Filling:
- 75g sultanas
- 30g dried cranberries
- 30g chopped dried apricots
- 4 tbsp fresh orange juice
- Dough mixture:
- 50g soft butter
- 25g caster sugar
- Pinch salt
- ¼ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1x 7g sachet of fast-action dried yeast
- 170g strong white flour
- 15g flaked almonds
- 75g good quality marzipan
- To Finish:
- 100g butter, melted
- 30g smooth apricot jam
- 45g butter
- 25g caster sugar
- Icing sugar to serve
Make the Stollen Filling:
- Start with the fruit mixture by popping all the fruits into a large bowl and sprinkle over the orange juice and stir well then set to one side for a couple of hours while you make the dough.
Make the Stollen Dough:
- In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light and creamy then add the salt, the allspice, vanilla and give the mixture another beat. Finally, whisk in the beaten eggs a small amount at a time. Finally, add the yeast followed by one final good whisking.
- Dust your worktop with plenty of flour, knead the dough in the flour until you have a smooth dough. A Stollen dough is heavier than a regular bread dough because of the eggs.
- Pop the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel somewhere warm, but not hot. Leave to rise for about 1 1/2 hours.
Fill the Stollen:
- Put more flour on the worktop. Tip out the dough and roll into a square about 24cm x 24cm. Spread the fruit evenly over the dough leaving a small margin around the edges. Sprinkle over the almonds, followed by small lumps of the marzipan down the centre.
- Fold the dough over the fruit filling so it looks like a sausage roll, tuck the seam so it is underneath and in the middle. Slip the stollen onto a parchment covered baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for a further hour.
Baking the Stollen:
Preheat the oven to 200 C /400F/ Gas 6
- Once the oven is heated, place a roasting tin half filled with cold water on the lowest shelf then lower the temperature slightly and bake the Stollen for 25 minutes or until slightly puffed up and golden brown.
- Place on a cooling rack and brush generously with the melted butter, several times then leave to cool completely.
Glazing the Stollen
- Melt the butter, jam, butter and sugar in a saucepan and let the mixture boil for 2 minutes then remove from the heat and brush the glaze all over the Stollen, allow to set, then glaze again.
- Drench the Orange, Almond and Cranberry Stollen with sieved icing sugar and serve. The Stollen keeps well wrapped in greaseproof paper in an airtight tin, or freeze if not using straight away.