Christmas Stollen

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 kg flour
• 625 g clarified butter
• 500 g sugar
• 500 g sultanas
• 500 g currants
• 1 liter of milk
• 300 g yeast
• 150 g candied lemon
• 150 g candied orange peel
• 1 lemon(s), peel
• 1 shot of rum
• 4 tsp salt
• 3 packets of vanilla sugar
• 250 g butter
• 200 g sugar, fine

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Rest time approx. 5 hours; Total time approx. 5 hours 45 minutes

Mix the sultanas, currants, candied lemon peel, and candied orange peel with a dash of rum in a large bowl and keep warm. Put the flour in a large bowl and make a well in the center. Mix the yeast with about half the milk and a little sugar until smooth. Let it rise for about half an hour. Add the sultanas, currants, candied lemon peel, and candied orange peel and mix. Add the milk, sugar, vanilla sugar, and salt and mix. Add the clarified butter. Keep the dough warm and let it rise for another 2 hours. Shape the risen dough into stollen and let it rise for another 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 250°C. Then reduce the temperature to 200°C and bake the stollen for about 45 to 50 minutes. If the stollen starts to get too dark, cover with aluminum foil. Melt the butter, pour it over the finished, still-hot stollen, and sprinkle the sugar over it. This recipe makes about 6 to 8 stollen (depending on the size of the stollen). The stollen tastes best when left to dry and wrapped in cloths or aluminum foil for about 2 weeks.