Another Use for "Wonder Dough"

Stollen goes really well with coffee

May I suggest baking Stollen for your Christmas celebrations?  Or, really, any time of year?  Stollen is a traditional German Christmas bread that always shows up this time of year at the imported foods store.  However, I think it's better to bake your own, even if it's a bastardized 1950s Betty Crocker interpretation of stollen.  Let's say it's stollen-inspired or something like that.  I also have to admit to changing the Betty Crocker recipe because no one in this house is a fan of glacé cherries.  Also, turns out I inadvertently skipped the kneading the fruit into the dough bit, so it's just a filling.  Feel free to knead if you try this at home.  Anyhow, my stollen is really tasty and that's all you need to know.

Super-messy counter after glazing

Download a PDF of this recipe here.

Stollen

Bread:
1/2 Sweet Dough recipe
1/2 cup blanched almonds, finely chopped
1/4 cup candied lemon peel, finely chopped
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup golden raisins
2 teaspoons butter, melted

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1 to 2 tablespoons cream

After second rising, flatten dough on a lightly floured surface and top with the almonds, peel and raisins. Knead into the dough and then press dough into an oval (approx. 8" x 12").

Fold the oval in half lengthwise ("hot dog") in order to form a crescent.  Press the edges together and transfer to a lightly greased baking sheet.

Let stollen rise at room temperature 35 to 45 minutes, or until doubled or let it rise overnight in the fridge and take it out while the oven is coming up to temperature.

Brush butter over the top of the stollen and bake at 375 degrees for around 30 minutes, or until golden.  Place on a cooling rack and make the glaze.

Put the powdered sugar in a small mixing bowl and stir in the lemon juice and enough of the cream to make a glaze.  Be sure to add cream slowly, because you don't want your glaze to be too runny!  Spread glaze over top of stollen (you don't need to wait for stollen to cool).  Enjoy!

Adapted from "Stollen," Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book (Minneapolis: Macmillan USA and General Mills, Inc., 1950), 102 and "Confectioner's Sugar Icing," Ibid, 111.

P.S. My "Missus C" mug is available from Anthropologie.