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Photo: Claire Sutton / Flickr

Stollen bread is a sweet bread that is dusted with sugar or icing sugar. It contains dried fruit, orange juice and rum (or substitute strong black tea for the alcohol). This recipe makes four moist loaves and requires yoghurt, which adds a lovely tenderness and taste to the bread. To prepare the yoghurt drain two cups of yoghurt at room temperature by lining a sieve with a cloth and allowing the yoghurt to stand in the sieve for an hour.

Dough preparation

Dissolve two teaspoons of dry yeast in half a cup of lukewarm water in a bowl. Stir in one teaspoon of sugar and let the mixture stand for five minutes. Add one and a half cups of lukewarm milk and stir in three cups of sifted all purpose flour. Keep stirring in the same direction until the mixture is incorporated.

Stir in two cups of drained yoghurt and another cup of sifted flour. Stir until smooth then cover the bowl with plastic and leave it to rest at room temperature overnight.

Fruit preparation

Mix together one cup of currants, one and a half cups of raisins and one cup of candied citrus peel. Pour one cup of orange juice into the bowl with one cup of dark rum. Mix the ingredients together, cover the bowl and let it stand for eight hours, stirring it every now and then.

Drain the fruit in a bowl and put the sieve with contents aside, together with a cup of the soaking liquid for later use.

Next day

Sprinkle two teaspoons of salt over the dough and then fold it. Add the fruit’s soaking liquid and a quarter of a cup of sugar and fold them in. Add five cups of sifted all-purpose flour (one at a time) while folding and turning. Knead the dough to incorporate the fruit.

Place a cup of sifted all purpose flour and a pound of cold butter (cut into chunks) into a food processor. Process until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Work into a dough and then rest it for an hour (covered).

Stollen bread

Flatten the dough into an inch thick square shape after. Allowing for a 2-inch border, sprinkle the fruit over the dough. Fold the sides over the fruit and the top over the bottom. Knead the dough gently to incorporate the fruit.

Divide the dough into four pieces, dust your work surface and flatten each piece into a 12-inch long oval shape – up to eight inches wide. Fold each in half lengthwise.

Line two baking sheets with buttered wax paper and place two breads on each one. Cover with plastic and rest for 45 minutes.

Bake

Pre-heat your oven to190 degrees Celsius. Allow for five inches between two centrally placed racks. Bake for 20 minutes then switch the baking sheets around, before baking for a further 40 minutes.

Brush with melted butter while hot and sift icing sugar over the breads.

Tags: baking, bread, Homemade bread, recipes