Stollen

Just in time for the holidays! As Mr. Reinhart states..."Dresden, Germany is considered the spiritual home of this traditional Christmas bread...which symbolizes the blanket of baby Jesus & the colored fruit represents the gifts of the Magi...There are hundreds of authentic versions of stollen..." so I decided to research a bit & find a recipe that was a bit more exotic than just golden raisins & candied fruit...I came cross David Lebovitz's slightly adapted version from Melissa Clark's The New York Times article from Hans Rockewagner...seems like a re-gifting of sorts...I followed the recipe in the Bread Baker's Apprentice, but used the ingredient suggestions from David Lebovitz...So pictured above - dark rum & almost 4 cups of mixed dried fruit - mostly cranberries, golden raisins, dried apricots & dark raisins...Soaked for 24 hours...
The sponge - all purpose flour, water & KAF gold-labeled yeast (which is osmotolerant meaning it helps sweet breads rise better)...Left for one hour to ferment at room temperature...

My messy mise en place...Here are the ingredient variations: toasted almonds...
Fresh nutmeg...
Vanilla bean paste - I used one whole bean...
From top - lemon zest, cardamon, cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, vanilla bean paste, sugar & kosher salt...
Nice foamy sponge after the one hour ferment...
Dry ingredients mixed together with the wet - one large egg yolk & 1 cup melted butter...
Another variation - 1/2 cup chopped candied ginger...
Adding in the sponge in 3 pieces & mixing completely after each addition...
Now for the fun part...Almonds, ginger & rum-soaked fruit...
The dough should resemble cookie dough...
A pretty mess!
Left to rise for about an hour...
Not much change after the hour is over...
Shaping...on a floured surface & divided in two...
Used the "shaping method #2" as featured in the BBA book...1/2 of the dough into a thick rectangle - about 8"x4"...the add more almonds & dried apricots...
With a rolling pin, make an indent or well towards the center & fold the bottom towards the middle indent...add more almonds & fruit...
Then folded the top half over the bottom half & transfer to parchment lined pan while curling it into a crescent shape while setting it down...
I made the other half portion of dough into three smaller crescent shapes using the same method...
Another one hour ferment at room temperature & then into the oven at 350 degrees for one hour...
Pretty! The internal temp was around 200' degrees...
While still hot, brushed with 1/2 cup melted butter...
& then generously sprinkled with gingered sugar...(1/2 cups sugar & 1 tsp ground ginger mixed together)...
After the ferment & into the oven for 45 minutes...
You can see the almonds & fruit sticking out of the ends...
Again, buttered while hot & dusted with ginger sugar...
After leaving out covered only with a piece of parchement overnight, its ready for its dusting of powdered sugar...
Reminds me of snow...
Or butter & sugar overload...
I love this photo - the crescent & white color resembles the blanket of baby Jesus...
Happy Holidays!