A week before Christmas, it is time to embark on the preparation of Stollen. For those unfamiliar, Stollen is a cake / traditional Christmas bread in Germany and Alsace. This is a cake / bread stuffed with candied fruit soaked in rum, often stuffed with marzipan (Marzipan), folded to enclose the stuffing and covered with icing sugar. It has the characteristic to keep 2 month and get better with time. It's a great cake to serve for a tea or a Christmas brunch. Ideally, you must prepare 15 days before Christmas but a week will suffice! My father and I are absolutely fans of this cake, it will be bought every year and we ended at two in 3 days.

It's been a long time that I've been dreaming to do it but I always started too late. This year it's done and I'm rather proud. I have read several dozen recipes but there was always something that bothered me, the grapes were not marinated in rum, spices were a mixture of gingerbread, there were almonds in the cake…short I finally found the English translation of a recipe (fills a) pretty close to what I wanted and I adapted from my ideal Stollen. It lacked just a few minutes of cooking, but otherwise it was perfect.

.

Tunnel, German Christmas bread

Based on a recipe by All recipes

Prep : 20 + 10mins
Resting time: 2hr + 1hr
Cooking : 40-50 minutes

Serves 15 people

- 7g of bread yeast
- 17,5cl hot milk
- 1 large egg
- 90g powdered sugar
- 1,5 tsp salt
- 90g soft butter
- 375g plain flour
- 40g raisins
- 60g of dried sultanas
- 40g of dried cranberries
- 6 teaspoons of rum
- 60g candied cherries, cut into 4
- 185g of candied citrus peel, diced
- 220g marzipan (Marzipan)
- a little vegetable oil
- 200g icing sugar for decoration

Two hours before, put raisins, the blond raisins and dried cranberries in a bowl. Sprinkle with 6 tablespoons of rum and hot water 10cl. Mix well and let the raisins and cranberries swell for 2 hours. After 2 hours, drain.

In a bowl, In a mixing yeast bowlud. Let stand for about 10 minutes, until the creamy texture becomes. In a bowl, Mix this liquid with the egg, powdered sugar, salt, butter and 3/4 the farine. Beat together before gradually adding the remaining flour, mixing well after each addition.

When the texture becomes homogeneous, place the dough on a lightly floured worktop and knead with grapes, the candied cherries, citrus peel, for about 8 minutes, until dough is smooth.

Lightly oil the sides of a bowl and place the dough by rolling it in the oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in warm place for 2 hours, to double in volume.

Pierce the dough to get the air out and put it on a lightly floured work plan. Roll the marzipan into a sausage and place in center of dough. Fold the dough over the sides and pinch the ends to seal.

Place bread, gasket down, on a sheet of baking paper on a baking sheet. Cover with a clean, damp cloth. Let rise for about 1 hour, for the dough doubles in volume yet.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/Gas 4.

Bake at 180 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 150 degrees and continue baking for 40 minutes until bread is golden.

Place the bread still warm on a baking rack. While still hot, brush generously with melted butter using a brush and then sprinkle generously with icing sugar. Sprinkle with sugar several times in the same place until the sugar can't be absorbed any more. Let cool

Put the Stollen in a sealed box lined with baking paper and allow the flavors to develop for 10-15 days before cutting. Stollen can be kept until 2 months in an airtight.