Stollen%3A%20Christmas%20Tunnel%20of%20Flavour

Put 80 g of raisins into a Bowl and soak them with 50 g of rum. If you prefer no alcohol, use orange juice instead.

Warm 165 g of milk for 20 seconds at 600 watts. It should be lukewarm, not hot. Add 1 sachet of dry yeast, 15 g of sugar and 80 g of flour and stir everything together with a spoon. A few small lumps are fine.

Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes at room temperature. After that you can see the yeast working. This is our little pre-dough, and it makes the stollen rise later on.

Beat 165 g of soft butter with 17 g of sugar until fluffy. Add 1 whole egg, 1 egg yolk and the grated zest of one orange, I use the Microplane grater for this, and mix for another minute.

In another Bowl, mix 420 g of flour, 1 tsp of salt, 1 tsp of Cinnamon powder and 1/2 tsp of Nutmeg with a spoon and add everything to the butter and egg mixture.

Add the pre-dough and knead everything for 5 minutes at medium speed with the Dough hook. Drain the raisins and add them to the dough together with 80 g of almond flakes and 40 g of candied lemon.

Knead everything together for 5 to 7 minutes at medium speed. Shape a ball, cover the Bowl with a damp cloth and let the dough rise for 1 1/2 hours, until it has doubled in volume.

Preheat the oven to 180 °C fan as soon as the dough has doubled in volume. Dust the work surface with flour and cut the dough into two halves.

Roll out the first piece with the rolling pin into a rectangle, or oval, about 1 cm thick. Roll 100 g of marzipan by hand into a log and place it on top.

Fold the dough over in the middle and then lift one part slightly, this creates the typical stollen shape. In the second photo you can see how it should look.

Do the same with the second piece, just without marzipan. That way everyone gets something they like, the marzipan lovers and the others.

Place both stollen on a perforated baking tray with a perforated mat and cover them with a damp cloth for 30 minutes. Then bake them for 30 minutes at 180 °C fan.

Melt 20 g of butter in a bowl and have 30 g of icing sugar ready. Brush both stollen with the melted butter while still warm and dust them generously with icing sugar.