Almond Stollen

Ingredients

• 500 g flour
• 1 cube fresh yeast
• 1 EL vanilla sugar
• 125 ml lukewarm milk
• 65 g sugar
• 1 pinch salt
• 0.5 TL lemon zest
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 150 g butter (room temperature)
• 100 g finely ground, blanched almond kernels
• 100 g raisins
• 150 g blanched almond kernels
• 50 g lemon curd (cubed)
• 100 g liquid butter
• 50 g powdered sugar

Instructions

1. 1.

   Sift the flour into a bowl, make a well in the center and crumble the yeast into it. Add the vanilla sugar and stir with 3-4 EL milk until smooth. Cover the pre‑mix for 15 minutes in a warm, draft‑free spot. Then add the remaining dough ingredients (except raisins, whole almonds, and lemon curd) and knead into a smooth dough. Let rest in a warm place for about 60 minutes until doubled in volume.

2. 2.

   Transfer to a lightly floured surface, fold in the raisins, whole almonds, and lemon curd, then shape the dough into a stollen loaf. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, put a well‑oiled stollen mold on top, and let rest another 20-25 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (O/B). Bake the stollen for about 1 hour, checking with a toothpick.

3. 3.

   Remove the almond stollen from the oven, allow it to cool slightly, then spread melted butter over the surface. Dust generously with powdered sugar and let the loaf cool completely.