Welcome to the fourth and final installment of a variety of stollen recipes. Paul likes to be the centre of attention and therefore, I’ve left Mr Hollywood for the finale of this series!
A delicious yeasted cake filled with dried fruit and a swirl of marzipan…
Serves 10 – 12
Ingredients
500g strong white flour
100g caster sugar
10g fast action yeast
10g salt
150g unsalted butter, softened
250ml whole milk
pinch ground nutmeg
pinch ground cloves
½ tsp vanilla extract
2 drops almond extract
55g blanched almonds, finely chopped
200g raisins
100g currants
125g mixed peel
25g butter, melted
225g marzipan
To serve
25g butter, melted
2 tbsp icing sugar
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190C /fan 170C/ gas 5
2. Put the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other. Add the softened butter and 200ml of the milk and stir together.
3. Add the remaining milk and knead well on a generously floured surface for 6-7 minutes, until smooth and pliable.
4. Mix the nutmeg, cloves, vanilla and almond extract, dried fruit and mixed peel together in a bowl. Add the dough on top and knead from the outside into the centre. When everything has been fully incorporated, return to the bowl, cover with cling film and leave to rise for 1-1 ½ hours in a warm place, until doubled in size.
5. Flatten the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 45cm x 35cm. Brush with the melted butter. Roll out the marzipan to about 25 x 15cm and place on top of the dough. Roll the dough up to enclose the marzipan and transfer to a lined baking sheet. Cover and leave to rise for 45mins – 1 hour until risen and doubled in size.
6. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, brush with melted butter, and dust with icing sugar. Serve cold.
