Fruit Ingredients 

• 40g (1½ tablespoons), candied orange or lemon peel, diced into small cubes
• 40g (1/3 scant cup), golden raisins (sultanas)
• 15g (1½ tablespoons), dark rum

Poolish Ingredients

• 50g (¼ cup less 1 teaspoon) whole milk
• 8g (2 teaspoons) dry yeast or 1½ teaspoons instant yeast
• 50g (1/3 cup), all purpose flour

Dough Ingredients 

• 90g (⅓ cup + 1 tablespoon), whole milk
• 30g (2 tablespoons) granulated sugar
• 220g (1⅔ cup) bread flour
• 50g (1 large egg) 
• 12g (3 tablespoons) whole almond flour (finely ground almonds)
• 0.8g (scant ½ teaspoon) cardamom powder
• 3g (½ teaspoon) sea salt
• 115g (4 ounces, 1 stick) good quality butter-82% fat, very softened, not melting
• 75g (½ cup) whole almonds, chopped

Glaze Ingredients 

• 30g (1oz) good quality butter (82% fat), melted just before the stollen is ready
• 30g (¼) cup confectioner’s (icing) sugar

Instructions

1. Mix the candied peel with the raisins and rum several hours in advance. (this can be done weeks in advance at room temperature in a jar). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside. Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) ten minutes before using.
2. Making the polish at a base temperature of 60ºC: take the temperature of the flour and the room and add them, then minus from 60ºC. This will give you the temperature for the milk. (Milk temperature + Flour Temperature + room temperature = 60ºC). Place the 50ml milk in the bowl of the stand mixer and add the yeast. Stir together and sprinkle the all-purpose flour over the top. Let sit undisturbed for 10-15 minutes or until cracks are visible on the surface of the flour which indicates that the yeast is fermenting. (*You must convert the temperature to celsius and calculate in celsius)
3. Adjust the temperature of the 90g of milk to the same temperature you used in step 1 (have extra milk on the side at same temperature incase the dough is too dry). Add the 90g of milk. sugar, bread flour, eggs, almond flour, cardamom powder and sea salt to the polish. Mix on medium speed with the dough hook for 30 seconds to 1 minute and observe the dough, if it looks too dry and lumpy add a very small amount of extra milk. The dough should start coming together after 1 minute adjust the milk accordingly. If the dough seems very wet and loose add a tiny amount of all-purpose.
4. Mix the dough for 5 minutes on medium speed and stop the machine. Using a rubber spatula scrape the dough that is stuck to the bottom and sides of the bowl. Mix for another 5 minutes, stop and scrape the bowl and dough hook and continue for another 5 minute, total 15 minutes. At this point you should hear a slapping sound the dough should be very elastic and completely wrapped around the hook. It should look shiny and you should be able to stretch out a small piece of it like a piece of cloth. This technique is called windowpane (see page 24).
5. Add half of the soft butter to the dough and mix on low to incorporate it, about 2-minutes. Stop the mixer, scrape the butter with a rubber spatula them mix for another 2 minutes. Add the remaining soft butter and repeat this same procedure for 4-5 minutes total. The dough should now look elastic and shiny and the butter should now be completely incorporated. Add the nuts, raisins and citrus peel to the dough and mix 1-2 minutes on low until everything is incorporated.
6. Place the dough in a medium bowl, dust the surface with a small amount to all-purpose flour and cover the bowl with cling film. Place in a warm spot for 1 hour or until it doubles in size (temperature should not exceed 27ºC (80.6ºF) or the butter will melt out of the dough.
7. Dust your work surface lightly with flour and turn out the dough. Knock it back. Form the dough into a ball and then press it into a 9-inch disk on the prepared baking sheet. Flip it over and brush the surface with a little bit of water. Fold the disk in half, like a calzone pizza. Place the dough on the prepared baking sheet and put in a warm spot for 45 minutes.
8. Bake the stollen in the centre of the oven for 35-40 minutes or until golden brown and cooked though. To test for doneness insert a knife for one full second into the bread, remove it and if there is no residue on the blade then the bread is done.
9. Once ready brush it with all the melted butter and dust with the confectioners sugar and place on a wire rack to cool completely. Serve cold and store up to one week, wrapped in cloth bag.
10. Stollen can be wrapped airtight and frozen for up to one month.

Points to Note

1. To scale eggs: just crack eggs in a bowl, whisk them for ten seconds and weigh what you need.
2. Stollen dough that is very dry in the early stages of the mixing will have lumps that will be impossible to get rid later on.
3. I baked the bread for 30 minutes at 375ºF (190ºC) because my oven had been on for a long time and it was really hot.

Points to Note on Yeast

• Active Dry yeast  one packet/sachet/envelope of active dry yeast weighs 7 grams (0.25 oz or 2¼ teaspoons).
• 10g of fresh yeast = 1 teaspoon of dry yeast = 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast
• 1 teaspoon active dry yeast = 3/4 teaspoon instant yeast

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