Cranberry Stollen

Ingredients

• 100 g lemon zest
• 100 g orange zest
• 70 g dried cranberries
• 6 tbsp rum
• 1 kg flour
• 2 cubes yeast
• 250 g sugar
• 250 ml milk
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 pinch Cardamom
• 1 pinch allspice
• 1 pinch nutmeg flower
• 400 g room temperature butter
• 100 g butter
• 50 g powdered sugar

Instructions

1. 1.

   Finely chop the lemon and orange zest with a knife and mix with the cranberries in a bowl. Drizzle with rum and cover to let it soak.

2. 2.

   Fill a large bowl with flour. Press a depression in the center. Crumble the yeast into it and sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar.

3. 3.

   Heat the milk until lukewarm. Pour about one third of it into the depression. Stir the yeast, sugar and a bit of flour from the rim until the yeast dissolves. Cover the pre‑mix and let rise for about 30 minutes.

4. 4.

   Add the remaining sugar, the rest of the milk and the spices. Add the butter in small pieces. Mix everything with a dough hook on a hand mixer into a smooth dough.

5. 5.

   Knead the dough until it bubbles and lifts slightly from the bowl edge. Cover the bowl with a cloth and let rise for about 1 hour.

6. 6.

   Transfer the dough to a floured work surface and press it flat. Stack the soaked fruits on top and knead them in by hand. Prepare the baking tray.

7. 7.

   Cut the dough in half and roll each piece slightly thin with a rolling pin. Fold one side over just past the center to create the classic stollen shape. Place on the tray and let rise covered for about 2 hours, optionally wrapping a ring of folded foil around it or using stollen molds.

8. 8.

   Preheat the oven to 180 °C (356 °F). Bake the stollens in the oven for 1 hour.

9. 9.

   While baking melt butter. Brush the stollens immediately after baking and again several times while cooling. Once completely cooled, dust heavily with powdered sugar. Store the cranberry stollens well wrapped in a cool place.