It's Christmas recipe week at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen! I have been waiting a long time to post this recipe. I included it in Not a Creature Was Purring, so the time has come. It's usually the very first thing that I bake for Christmas. While it's normally served at teatime in the afternoon with a nice cup of coffee or tea, we love it for breakfast! After all, it really is a yeast bread, even if it is sweet.
Traditional stollen is made with candied fruit. I don't find commercial candied fruit very appealing, so when the task of baking the stolen moved from my mother to me, I modernized it (don't you love the spin I give on changing up a traditional recipe?) with dried fruit. I'm partial to dried cherries and dried apricots, so that's what I use. But raisins would work well, too. Dried figs or dates would change up the flavor more, but if that's what you like, you could certainly try it. One word of caution—unsulphered apricots should taste the same, but they definitely won't be pretty when the stollen is sliced.
In Not a Creature was Stirring, I wrote about Trixie getting in trouble with the stollen. In real life, that event actually happened to my little Buttercup. I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't read it, but if you have a dog whose collar says Santa, I can explain . . . keep an eye on that doggy while the dough is rising!
Do not take shortcuts when chopping the apricots. Trust me. Don't put them in any kind of food processor or chopper. You'll end up with a mess.
There's nothing terribly difficult about this recipe. There are a lot of little steps, so the recipe looks long. But there's also a lot of rising time when you can walk away for a bit. But be sure to place it well out of reach of dogs when it's rising! I do recommend baking this on a day when you have plenty of time and aren't rushing off to do other things.
The fabulous Kim Davis (no relation!) made my stollen recipe for her Cinnamon and Sugar blog. She even made a video of how to make it!
Krista’s Modern Christmas Stollen
For people only
1½ cups dried apricots
1¼ cups dried cherries
½ cup rum
¼ cup lukewarm water
2 packs of fast-rising instant yeast
5½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup milk
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs (room temperature)
1 cup unsalted butter, softened and cut into ¼-inch
pieces
confectioners’ sugar
Chop the apricots and cherries
with a knife (do not use a food processor) and place in a bowl. Pour the rum
over them and let sit for 1 hour.
Pour the lukewarm water in a 2-cup or larger bowl.
Sprinkle with the yeast and a pinch of sugar. Stir to help dissolve. Set aside
(I put it in a cold oven) for 10–15 minutes. It should have doubled in
size.
Pour the rum from the fruit into a bowl and set
aside. Lay paper towels out, and spread with
the fruit. Dab with additional paper towels to dry. Pour the fruit into a dry
bowl and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of flour.
Turn several times to coat. Set aside.
Combine milk, ½ cup sugar, and salt in a
heavy-bottomed pot and heat until the sugar dissolves and a thermometer
registers 110°F .
Remove from heat. Stir in the rum and the
yeast mixture.
Fit dough hook into mixer. (This may be made by
hand, but a heavy-duty mixer like a KitchenAid
is a big help.) Measure 4 cups of flour into a mixing bowl. With the mixer on
low speed, slowly add the milk mixture. Whisk the 2 eggs well, then add to the
dough, and continue mixing. Slowly add as much of the remaining 1½ cups flour
as needed. Mix in the softened 1 cup butter. The dough should begin to shape
into a ball.
Dust your hands and kneading area with flour. Remove
the dough from the bowl and knead 10–15 minutes until the dough is smooth and
pliable. Incorporate the fruit by pressing it into the dough a bit at a time.
Flour your hands as necessary and continue to add the fruit and turn the dough.
Grease a deep bowl with butter, place the dough in
the bowl, flip it once to coat with butter, cover with a kitchen towel, and
place in a warm area away from any drafts for 2 hours or until doubled in size.
(A cool oven will work.)
Punch the dough down and divide into 2 pieces. Allow
to rest for 10 minutes. Working with one at a time, roll each ball of dough out
into a rectangle roughly 12 inches long and 8 inches wide. Brush each with 1
tablespoon of melted butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar.
Fold one side (of the 8-inch width) over about 2/3 of the way. Fold the other side over so
that it overlaps the top of the first side by about 1 inch. Press the top seam
gently. Shape it into an oval with floured hands as necessary, patting it so
that it is approximately 4 inches across.
Prepare a very large cookie sheet or lipped baking
pan by covering with parchment paper. Transfer the dough to the parchment
paper, leaving at least 3–4 inches between the two loaves. Brush each with 1
tablespoon of melted butter. Place in a warm location away from drafts and allow to rise for 1 hour
or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 375°F. Slide the baking sheet into
the oven and bake 25–30 minutes or until they are golden brown and crusty.
When cool and before serving, dust generously with powdered
sugar .
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| The yeast rising. |
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| Chopped dried apricots and cherries. |
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| Dried fruit mixed with flour. |
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| The dough. |
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| Dough with dried fruit incorporated. |
Fresh from the oven. All it needs is powdered sugar on top!
Have you read Not a Creature was Purring yet?
I have one for someone's stocking!
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