Christmas Stollen From Brigitte Sealing
Submitted by Rosana
A German-style no-yeast Christmas stollen with cottage cheese, rum, almonds, currants, sultanas, and candied lemon peel. Brushed with butter and dusted in powdered sugar for a snowy finish.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
20 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
1 hrsThis is the quicker side of stollen. No yeast, no rising, no waiting around for dough to double.
Instead, baking powder does the lifting while cottage cheese (yes, cottage cheese) keeps the crumb moist and tender. The dough gets worked by hand on a pastry board with cold butter, beef drippings, eggs, rum, lemon juice, and a whisper of cardamom and mace.
Sultanas, currants, chopped almonds, and candied lemon peel get folded in, then the whole thing is shaped into the classic folded-over stollen form and baked until golden.
Straight out of the oven, a brush of melted butter and a thick dusting of powdered sugar gives it that signature snowy look.
Kitchen Tips
- Drain the cottage cheese thoroughly. Excess moisture makes the dough too wet and sticky to shape properly.
- Work quickly with cold butter. You want to keep everything cool so the dough stays firm and workable. If it gets soft, pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes.
- Start the oven hot, then reduce. The initial high heat helps the stollen rise before it settles into a steady bake.
- Dust with powdered sugar while still hot. The butter glaze melts slightly and the sugar bonds to the surface, creating that classic frosted crust.
Ingredients
Directions
Mix and sieve together the flour and baking powder onto a pastry board or cool slab.
Make a well in the center and pour in the sugar, vanilla, rum, lemon juice, and the eggs.
Draw in some flour from the sides of the well to mix with these and form a thick paste.
Add the cold butter, cut into small pieces, the finely chopped beef drippings, cottage cheese, currants, sultanas, nuts and candied peel.
Cover the fruits with more of the flour, and then starting from the middle, work all of it together quickly with your hands into a firm, smooth paste.
If it should stick, add a little more flour.
Form the mix into a long, oval shape, and then fold it over lengthwise to give it the traditional inchstollen inch shape.
Line a baking dish with greased waxed paper and place stollen on this.
Preheat the oven for 5 minutes at 500 degrees F.
Then bake at a moderately hot oven for 50 to 60 minutes.
As soon as the stollen comes out of the oven, brush with melted butter and dust thickly with powdered sugar.
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