Stollen according to a Saxon recipe

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 1,500 g flour
• 300 g sugar
• 750 g clarified butter
• 500 ml milk
• 4 cubes of yeast
• 25 g salt
• 3 packets of vanilla sugar
• 1 lemon(s), grated peel, untreated
• 2 packs of candied lemon peel
• 1,000 g raisins
• 50 g almond(s), bitter, coarsely chopped
• 150 g almonds, sweet, slivered
• 1 ½ liters of rum, 40% brown
• Butter, melted for spreading
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 10 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 4 hours 40 minutes

The ingredients listed here are enough for three small Stollen

Preparation (the day before): Place all ingredients in a warm room, pre-sort the raisins if necessary (remove stems and discard any hard raisins), soak the raisins in rum, and melt the clarified butter (it will have hardened by the next day, but not as solid as before). Preparation: Place the flour in a bowl and sprinkle sugar over it. Make a well in the center. Heat 250 ml of milk (lukewarm) and whisk in the yeast. Add 2 teaspoons each of sugar and flour, fill the well, and let it rise for about 30 minutes (possibly in an oven at 50°C). Stir in the clarified butter, salt, vanilla sugar, 250 ml milk, lemon zest, candied lemon peel, and bitter and sweet almonds; knead vigorously. Carefully press the rum out of the raisins to prevent the Stollen from becoming too moist. Finally, add the raisins to the dough. Cover the yeast dough and let it rise in a warm place for 2 hours. Divide the dough into three pieces to make three small stollen (I’ve had good experiences with this). Roll out each of the three pieces with a rolling pin and then place them together to form a stollen. Place the stollen individually on a baking sheet, side by side, on baking paper so that the stollen aren’t touching (with baking paper between them). Bake at 160°C for about 1 hour, or for another 5 minutes using bottom heat if necessary. The next day, the stollen can be buttered (heat the butter in a water bath, then spread it on the stollen) and dusted with powdered sugar. The stollen will keep for several weeks. They taste perfect after about three weeks. To store, I wrap them in aluminum foil and place them in a cool place. Tip: The rum pressed from the raisins is a big hit with adults with a sweet tooth. It can also be stored for about two weeks.