Stollen making

Yeah, I know, I have been baking like crazy...I made a batch of Blueberry biscotti for my dad, and attempted Stollen for the first time.

Stollen are german fruit bread/cake...traditionally made with liquor soaked dry fruit, and with a marzipan center.

I really dislike raisins (and most dry fruit), and marizpan. So I was never a fan of Stollen until 2 years ago, Sterntaler Bakery sold their Stollen at the Mountain View farmer's market. I fell in love with their praline Stollen, filled with hazelnut and chocolately goodness...no marzipan or raisin insight! I was so disappointed when they ceased to make the praline Stollen.

Having never found a replacement, I searched for a easy (i.e. easy enough for lazy me) Stollen recipe. I can across one at http://www.freshloaf.com/recipes/stollen . It looked easy enough, didn't require waiting overnight, and only required 4 tablespoon of butter.

The result, fantastic..I filled it with nutella and cocoa powder. It's definitely better after drying out in a paper bag overnight.

Below is the recipe:

Nutella Stollen
Makes 2 big loaves or 1 giant one!

Sponge
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 packets of Active Dry Yeast

Dough
2 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 egg
4 tablespoons butter, softened
1/4 to 1/2 cup of water

Filling
Cocoa powder
Nutella, refridgerated
or
Fill with anything you like, my second attempt, I used a filling of brown sugar, cocoa powder, and a hot mocha mix

spray oil

Topping:
melted butter
powder sugar

Warm milk to 110 F. Mix yeast into the milk and stir into the flour. Cover in plastic wrap and ferment for 1 hr. Sponge will be very foamy.

When the sponge is ready, combine the remaining flour, salt, sugar and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir in the sponge, egg, softened butter, and enough water to form a soft but not sticky dough.

Place dough in an oiled bowl, cover with plastic or a damp towel, and set aside to rise for 45 minutes to 1 hr.

On a floured surface, shape the dough into a rectangle by pressing with your hands. Spread your filling over the dough. If using nutella, cut the cold nutella into "logs" and roll the dough over it. Fold the dough over leaving a bit of an edge. Fold the edge over the dough, and seal it with your hands.

Spray plastic wrap with oil and cover the loaf with the plastic. Let raise for approximately 1 hr to 1.5 hr.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

When fully risen, bake the stollen for 20 minutes to 30 minutes until it's golden brown.

Remove stollen from oven. Brush with melted butter while the loaf is still hot. Sprinkle with powder sugar. Let the stollen cool.

Put stollen in a paper bag over night to dry out.