Delicious Christmas Stollen

  Here is our secret recipe for a never fail Christmas Stollen.  Filled with a bountiful selection nuts, candied fruit and golden raisins.  This sweet bread come right out of our ovens and was instantly devoured.  There was no experimenting with frostings, glazes of confectioners sugar.No need for sweet creamy butter or orange marmalade. The smell of the freshly baked sweet dough was enough to excite us

Can you imagine what your company will do?.  We guarantee that half the loaf will be finished before you even dare to leave your kitchen, so you had better make 2 or 4 of these loaves.  Glaze if you like.  As I said, we never made it that far.

Ingredients: 
Dry Yeast-1 package. 
Warm Water-1/4 cup. 
Milk- 3/4 cup, warm. 
Sugar- 1/4 cup. 
Salt- 1 teaspoon. 
Sweet Butter-4 tablespoons, softened. 
Eggs-2 slightly beaten. 
Flour-3 cups. 
Dried Lemon Rind.- 1 tablespoon. 
Mace- 1/2 teaspoon. 
Golden Raisins- 1/3 cup. 
Almonds- 1/2 cup, toasted and chopped. 
Candied Fruit- 3/4 cup.

Instructions: 
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Place in a large mixing bowl the milk, lemon rind, sugar, salt, butter and eggs.  Mix until well combined.  Pour the yeast mixture into the large bowl.  Add in 2 cups of the flour.  Mix until well blended.  Cover and set aside for 1 hour.  Add the remaining flour and form a loosely held ball.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Place the dough on a pastry board and gently knead in the candied fruit, toasted Almonds, mace and golden raisins.  Knead only a few times until all ingredients are blended.  With your hands flatten out the dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Press into an oval shape.  Fold the dough over once to form an envelope.  Pinch the edges to seal.  Place on a grease piece of parchment paper on a cookie sheet.  Brush a little egg wash on top of the loaf.  Allow the dough to rise until almost doubled.  Bake at 375F degrees for 30 minutes.  Serve slightly warm.  If you need a glaze combine 1/2 cup of confectioners sugar with a tablespoon of fresh lemon juice and drizzle on the warm loaf.

Gary Solomon is the owner of The Kitchen Cupboard. One of the Kitchen Cupboard's specialties are their delicious cookies and rugelach. Visit Delicious Cookies to see for yourself! Online ordering is available. Or email Gary for further information. Gary is also the Food & Drink Editor of Why Men Are Online Magazine

©Gary Solomon. Delicious Cookies