Typically referred to as Christstollen, this candy cakelike bread studded with candied fruit, aromatic with orange and rum, and topped with a snowy layer of confectioners’ sugar is a Christmas specialty of the Alsace area of France. With its German heritage, that is the fast model of yeasted stollen, with finely floor nuts changing the standard marzipan often nestled within the middle.
Alsatian Stollen
- 4 cups (500 grams) all-purpose flour
- 1½ cups (150 grams) finely floor almonds or hazelnuts
- 4 teaspoons (20 grams) baking powder
- 1 tablespoon (9 grams) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (1 gram) floor cardamom
- ½ teaspoon (1 gram) floor nutmeg
- Zest of 1 massive orange (about 1¼ teaspoons or 8 grams)
- ¾ cup plus 2 teaspoons (180 grams) unsalted butter, cubed
- 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 cups (200 grams) dried cranberries or a mixture of dried cranberries, currants, and raisins
- 3.5 ounces (100 grams) candied citrus peel
- 1 cup (250 grams) quark, fromage frais, or full-fat Greek yogurt
- 2 massive eggs (100 grams), room temperature
- 2 tablespoons (30 grams) darkish rum
- 1 teaspoon (4 grams) vanilla extract
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon (1 to 2 grams) almond extract
- 3 to 4 tablespoons (42 to 56 grams) unsalted butter, softened
- ⅓ cup (40 grams) confectioners’ sugar
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In a big bowl, whisk collectively flour, floor nuts, baking powder, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, and orange zest till mixed. Add cubed butter, and utilizing your fingertips, rub butter into flour combination till there are not any extra lumps of butter and combination resembles moist sand. (There ought to be no clumps of zest; it ought to be evenly distributed all through.) Add granulated sugar, cranberries, and candied peel, and toss nicely till mixed.
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In a medium bowl, whisk collectively quark, eggs, rum, and extracts till easy. Pour over flour combination, and utilizing a fork or picket spoon, fold and mix till dry elements are moistened and a dough types.
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Scrape dough out onto a calmly floured floor, and knead till dough is easy, elastic, and not sticky, 10 to fifteen minutes, including further flour as wanted.
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Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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Form dough right into a 11-inch oval with barely tapered ends. Make a deep, exaggerated indentation down lengthy facet of dough about one-third of the best way in. (If the indentation shouldn’t be deep sufficient, it is going to be misplaced in baking.) Place on ready pan.
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Bake for 45 minutes. Cut back oven temperature to 325°F (170°C), and bake for quarter-hour extra, loosely protecting with foil to forestall extra browning, if crucial. Instantly brush whole high and sides of scorching loaf with softened butter. Generously mud with confectioners’ sugar.
