Erfurt Schittchen

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 kg flour
• 100 g yeast
• 125 g sugar
• 125 g almond(s), sweet
• 25 g almond(s), bitter, or bitter almond oil
• 125 g candied lemon peel
• 75 g candied orange peel
• 125 g raisins
• 75 g currants
• 375 g margarine
• 1 small bottle(s) of rum or rum blend (approx. 0.3 l)
• 1 lemon(s), untreated, zest grated
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• Butter and powdered sugar for sprinkling
• ¼ liter of milk
• 1 pinch of salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 3 hours; Rest time approx. 4 hours; Total time approx. 7 hours

or also called Stollen

Weigh and prepare the ingredients before making the dough, such as removing the skin from almonds by placing them in hot water and peeling them. Wash the raisins and currants and soak them the day before. Chop the candied lemon and orange peel if they haven’t already been bought diced. Leave all the ingredients in a warm room overnight. The next day, sift half the flour, make a well in the middle, add the lukewarm milk, 3 teaspoons of sugar and half the yeast, and knead into a medium-firm dough. Cover with a cloth and let rise for at least 3 hours, until the surface cracks. Now add more flour, the remaining yeast, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt and margarine (smooth) with plenty of lukewarm milk and knead into a smooth dough. Knead everything vigorously and beat until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and bubbles. Then knead the almonds, candied lemon peel, candied orange peel, sultanas (raisins), and currants into the dough until evenly distributed. Cover the dough again and let it rest for 2 hours in a warm place. Knead thoroughly again and let it rise for another 30 minutes. Divide the dough into 1000g pieces, shape them into loaves, or fold them over each other. Bake at medium heat for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours, until golden brown. After baking, brush the still-warm slice with melted butter and then dust with sugar and/or icing sugar. The slices should be stored for 6-7 days before cutting them. If you bake several, they can sometimes keep until Easter. We used to prepare them at home, cover them, and take them to the baker on a large wooden board to bake. It was a tradition here in Erfurt and the surrounding villages until shortly before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Then, unfortunately, this beautiful tradition came to an end!