Happy Christmas Babes

Almost Christmas, so what could be more appropriate than a Stollen? Our Bread Babe extraordinair Susan gave us this recipe to bake for the holidays. It 's a lot different than the Stollen I'm used to bake this time of year. A lot more butter that's for sure. I love the spices in the bread, eventho I probably went a bit too wild with the nutmeg. This due to my lovely mill for freshly grated nutmeg and the absence of a 1/3 teaspoon for measuring. But it was very delicious.This was also the opportunity to use the black cherries that I dehydrated in summer, delicious. Even the kids loved it a lot. I was worried that they would start complaining about the absence of the almond paste roll in the bread that they're used to, but they didn't even mentioned it!

I had my worries while making the dough, but I left it mixing for a long time (as Susan said) and that really did the trick. Very easy to handle afterwards. Souple and elastic. The dough was no quick riser. All that butter made it slow I guess. But in the end it turned out alright I guess. Shaping could have been better, during the rise the topflap retreated a little, so not perfect.

Oh yes I almost forgot.... You wanna get in the holiday mood too with this stollen? Bake, post and tell us about it. Send your details to Susan so she can whip up a round up when she's back on earth again. Did you know today is her wedding day? Congratulations Susan and Jay!!

Don't forget to check out what the other Babes made of this stollen (links in the sidebar).

Stollen
(Yield: 1500 grams = 3 loaves, more or less)

(PRINT recipe)

Time:

• Candy and dry citrus peel: 12 hours or more (can be done ahead)
• Soak the fruits: 12 hours
• Mix and ferment sponge: 12 hours (can be simultaneous with fruit-soaking)
• Mix dough: 20 – 30 minutes
• First fermentation : 30 minutes
• Preshape, rest, and shape: 30 minutes
• Proof: 90 minutes
• Bake: 30 minutes

Soaked Fruit Ingredients:

• 130 grams raisins
• 75 grams dried cherries (or more raisins)
• 61 grams candied orange peel
• 92 grams candied lemon peel
• 82 grams slivered almonds
• 34 grams rum

Toss the soaked fruits with the rum in a medium bowl. Cover and leave at room temperature for about 12 hours.

Sponge Ingredients:

• 120 grams flour
• 80 grams water
• 0.1 gram (small pinch) instant yeast [or 0.13 g active dry, or 0.25 g fresh]

Meanwhile, combine the sponge ingredients in another medium bowl. Cover and ferment at room temperature for 12 hours.

Final Dough Ingredients:
●348 g flour
●53 g milk
●25.3 grams (2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons) instant yeast, or 63.3 g fresh]
●8 g (1-1/3 t.) salt
●8 g (2-1/3 t.) diastatic malt powder (omit if you don’t have it)
●51 g sugar
●50 g egg (about one large egg)
●5 g grated lemon zest (one average lemon)
●5 g grated orange zest (one small orange)
●1/3 t. of each of these ground spices: cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, allspice, nutmeg
●273 g unsalted butter, at room temperature (should be pliable)
●all of the sponge
●all of the soaked fruits

Finishing Ingredients:
●clarified butter
●fine granulated sugar
●powdered (confectioner’s) sugar

Method:
In the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook, combine all of the final dough
ingredients except the soaker. Mix in slow speed until all the ingredients are
incorporated. Continue mixing in medium speed until the gluten reaches full development. The dough should come together around the hook and should no longer stick to the sides and bottom of the bowl. This could take about 20 minutes or more, but will depend on your mixer.

Add the soaked fruits and mix on slow speed just until they are evenly distributed
through the dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly buttered container. Cover and ferment for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Turn the dough onto the counter. Divide into three pieces, or however many you would
like. Preshape the dough into balls and let them rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
To shape each loaf: Form a blunt-ended batard and dust it lightly with flour. With a thin
rolling pin, press down firmly, separating about 2/5 of the dough from the other 3.5. Roll
out the flap of dough connecting the sections so it is about 2 inches wide. Flatten the
larger section slightly with your hand, then fold the smaller section over to rest on the
larger one. Place the loaves on parchment-lined baking sheets (two per sheet) and slip them into a large plastic bag with a bowl of warm water. Proof for about 90 minutes, replenishing the water when it cools.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 on convection setting or 400 on regular bake
setting. You will also need steam during the initial phase of baking, so prepare for this
now. Bake for 10 minutes, open the oven door briefly to allow any remaining steam to escape,
and bake for another 20 minutes. If you do not have convection, you may need to rotate
the position of the baking sheets halfway through the bake to ensure even browning and
keep the one on the lower rack from burning on the bottom.

While the loaves are still warm, brush them with clarified butter. Dredge them in fine
granulated sugar, brushing or shaking off the excess. To finish, sift powdered sugar over the loaves. Cut when completely cool. You can leave the stollen out overnight to let the loaves dry
and the sugar crust up a bit.

(Adapted from San Francisco Baking Institute )