Ingredients 

Makes 2 loaves 

Filling

  • Flame raisins   1/3 cup    40 g
  • Golden raisins   2/3 cup     80 g
  • Currants   2/3 cup     80 g
  • Dried cherries   1/2 cup    70 g
  • Candied orange peel   2 Tbsp     30 g
  • Candied lemon peel   2 Tbsp      30 g
  • Chopped toasted almonds   1/3 cup     40 g
  • Lemon zest   1 1/2 Tbsp
  • Lemon juice   1 Tbsp     8 g
  • Orange zest   1 1/2 Tbsp
  • Orange juice   1 Tbsp     5 g
  • White rum   3 Tbsp     40 g

Sponge

  • Instant yeast   2 tsp     8 g
  • Granulated sugar   1 Tbsp   20 g
  • Whole milk   1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp     80g
  • All-purpose flour   3/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp     125 g

Final Dough

  • Whole milk   3 Tbsp     45 g
  • Large egg   1
  • Vanilla extract   1 tsp
  • Granulated sugar   1 Tbsp     20 g
  • All-purpose flour   1 2/3 cups     240 g
  • Sea salt   1 tsp
  • Unsalted butter, room temperature   1/2 cup plus 3 Tbsp     150 g

Rum Butter

  • Unsalted butter, melted   1/2 cup     115 g
  • White rum   1/4 cup     55 g

Finishing

  • Granulated sugar   1/2 cup     90 g
  • Ground cinnamon   2 tsp
  • Powdered sugar for dusting

 

Directions

Mix the Filling

1. Combine the Flame raisins, golden raisins, currants, cherries, orange and lemon peel, almonds, lemon zest and juice, orange zest and juice, and rum in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
 
Make the Sponge
 
1. In a medium bowl, combine the yeast, sugar, and milk. Mix to combine. Add the flour and mix with a wooden spoon until the mixture is well combined. Cover and ferment for 1 hour at room temperature.
 
Make the Dough
 
1. In a large bowl, using a wooden spoon, mix the milk, egg, and vanilla extract. Add the sugar and stir well.
 
2. Tear the sponge into 2-in [5-cm] pieces and combine with the egg mixture. It will not be homogeneous at this point. Add half of the flour and stir with the spoon until the mixture is a thick batter. Add the remaining flour and the salt. Mix until the dough is a shaggy mass.
 
3. Turn  the dough out onto a clean, unfloured work surface and knead for 3 minutes. It may be sticky at first, and you may be tempted to add flour, but don’t!
 
4. Now add the soft butter bit by bit while kneading until all the butter is incorporated. This will take several minutes of kneading. The dough will be sticky; use a scraper to keep scraping the dough off the work surface. At the end of the kneading, the dough will feel buttery and will have developed some integrity.
 
5. Let the dough rest on the work surface for 5 minutes. Pat the dough into a flat disk. Add the fruit filling and enclose  it in the dough. Knead the dough until the fruit mixture is evenly distributed throughout the dough, 1 to 2 minutes. Some of the fruit will fall out of the dough. Be patient: add it back in and keep kneading. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover the bowl, and ferment for 1 hour.
 
Shape and Bake the Stollen
 
1. Turn  the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and divide into two equal pieces. Shape each piece into a batard or football shape about 9 in [23 cm] long. Make this shape as tight as you can roll it.
 
2. Now it’s time to make the traditional stollen shape. Using a lightly floured dowel rod or wooden spoon handle, press down on each loaf 2 in [5 cm] from the edge, from one end to the other, and repeat on the other side. This creates a clear indentation on both sides of the football shape and a concentrated amount of dough in the center. Make the indentations very deep. They will fill in during baking. Repeat on the second loaf. This shape is supposed to be reminiscent of baby Jesus wrapped in a blanket.
 
3. Place the stollen on a parchment-lined baking pan. Make the rum butter by combining the butter and rum, and brush the stollen with some of it. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and proof for 1 hour.
 
4. Preheat the oven to 325°F [165°C].
 
5. Brush the stollen with more of the rum butter once again before baking. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until nicely browned and cooked through.

6. Remove the stollen from the oven and poke all over with a fork or skewer. While still warm, brush with the rum butter once again. Combine the granulated sugar and cinnamon and dust the stollen with the mixture. Cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

 

Formulation courtesy of Zingerman's Bakehouse, Ann Arbor, M.I.