Nattalia's Rum Stollen

( 2 loaves)

This is a recipe my mother passed along to me this year. It produces a delicious and very rich rum stollen, a traditional German Christmas bread.

I made my own candied orange and lemon peel because the only candied peel I was able to find in Sequim contained high fructose corn syrup. This was manageable because making this stollen took two days (soaking the nuts and raisins).

The finished loaves were then wrapped in parchment and left in a cool dark place for a week to allow the flavors to fully develop.

candied orange and lemon peel
1 large organic lemon
1 small to medium organic navel orange
2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt

2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup water

about 3 tbsp fine granulated sugar

Wash and dry the lemon and orange. Cut off the tops and bottoms of the lemon. Cut off the peel in strips, yellow and white parts. Cut these pieces into small dice.

Repeat with the orange.

Place the water and salt into a small saucepan. Stir until the salt has dissolved. Add the lemon and orange peel. Bring up to a gentle simmer over medium heat. Cook for about 3 minutes. Drain.

Add enough cold water to cover the peel and bring back up to a simmer. Cook 3 minutes and drain the peel again.

Empty the saucepan and combine the sugar and water. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring the mixture up to a gentle simmer. Add the peel and cook for about 30 minutes or until the peel is tender and translucent.

Sprinkle a piece of parchment paper with about 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar. Using a slotted spoon, remove the peel from the syrup, shake off the excess liquid and spread over the sugared parchment paper in a single layer. When all of the peel is spread out, sprinkle the remaining sugar over the top. Allow to dry overnight.

(There was a small amount of citrus flavored syrup leftover which I used in my tea).

rum stollen
2 cups raisins
about 1 cup dark rum, divided
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 lb butter, 2 sticks warmed until runny, but not hot
4 cups flour, divided
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 tsp dry active yeast
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom
1 cup candied lemon and orange peel
1 tbsp flour

The day before you plan on baking this, place the raisins in a small bowl and sprinkle with half a cup of rum. Cover with plastic wrap and set aside overnight, stirring at least once or twice.

Place the almonds in another small bowl. Combine about 1/3 of a cup of rum with the almond extract. Pour this mixture over the almonds and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside overnight, stirring at least once or twice.

The next morning combine the butter with 2 cups of flour. Refrigerate this mixture while you prepare the yeast dough.

Combine the milk, yeast and sugar. Let sit until the yeast has dissolved.

Place the remaining 2 cups of flour and cardamom into the bowl of a 9 or 11 cup food processor. Pulse a few times to combine.

With the motor running pour the milk and yeast mixture down the chute. Turn off the motor when the dough begins to come together.

Take the top off the food processor. Break up the dough and distribute evenly around the bowl. Remove the flour and butter mixture from the refrigerator and form small walnut sized balls. Place about 5 or 6 of those around the yeast dough. Replace the top and pulse a few times to combine.

Drop the remaining flour and butter mixture in small pieces down the chute until all of it has been combined with the yeast dough.

Process until you have a smooth ball of dough, taking care not to let the mixture get too hot. Place into a dish and cover with plastic wrap. Wait until the dough has risen about 2 1/2 times; about 2-3 hrs.

Drain the raisins and almonds, reserving the leftover rum. Combine the fruit and nuts with 1 cup of the candied lemon and orange peel (reserve the rest for another use).

Add the flour and toss. Set aside.

Divide the dough in half. Roll out one piece to about 1/4 inch thickness; about 12 x 14". Cover with half of the fruit and nut mixture. Cover loosely with plastic wrap for about 15 minutes.

Roll the ends like a jelly roll towards the center. Flatten the dough and then roll up again from the bottom to the top. Gently roll into a rectangle about 6" x 10 ". Fold in half with the top not quite meeting the other side; see photo.

Place onto a silicone mat or a piece of parchment paper. Cover with a light dry kitchen towel to rise until doubled; up to 4 hours.

Repeat with the remaining piece of dough.

Preheat oven to 350F. Set the racks so that the stollen bakes in the upper top portion of the oven; about 2 to 3 notches down.

Bake the stollen for 50-65 minutes or until done. Remove from oven.

to finish
3 tbsp butter
the leftover and reserved rum
about 1/2 cup fine granulated sugar
about 1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioners)

Quickly prepare the glaze to brush onto the warm stollen. Gently heat the leftover rum with the butter. Brush this mixture onto both sides of each loaf until you have used all of it.

Roll each warm loaf in granulated sugar; both sides. Then dust each loaf generously with powdered sugar. Allow to cool.

Wrap the cooled loaves in parchment paper. (My mother was pretty insistent not to use plastic. She told me the loaves shouldn't "sweat". I couldn't help myself. I placed one parchment wrapped loaf into a paper bag and the other into a *plastic bag). Allow the loaves to sit in a cool dark place for at least a week. This gives the flavors a chance to mellow.

A week later *I preferred the stollen that had been placed in plastic. I thought the stollen wrapped in parchment paper and then placed into a paper bag was a bit on the dry side.