Yesterday the better-half and I made Stollen and we had to make a few substitutions. The substitutions didn’t distract from the outcome at all. One of the substitutions was using almond extract instead of vanilla. I know you’re asking yourself who doesn’t have vanilla. I had some that I’d made from a vanilla bean and vodka (ala M. Stewart) but somehow it had gotten moldy. We also had no rum but had kirsch so in it went. The result was brilliantly good and we’ve put a good and proper dent in the loaf already.
Here’s the recipe: Stollen, 350 degree oven
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp mace
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 heaping tsp cardamom
3/4 cup pulverized almonds
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup cottage cheese
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla (we used almond)
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 tbs rum or rum flavoring (we used kirsch)
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup candied lemon peel
3 tbs melted butter
2 tbs vanilla sugar (I put a vanilla bean in a glass jar then piled on the sugar and sealed and it sits in the refrigerator for times like these)
Put the butter in a large bowl–I quartered it to make it easier to work with. Pulverize the almonds and add to the bowl. Add the sugar. I did a quick job of cutting in–not too much though. Then we sifted all the dry ingredients and added that to the bowl. I cut in the dry ingredients and then gave a quick stir. Then we added the egg, the cottage cheese and all liquid flavorings to the blender. I pressed mix for about 30 seconds–everything was well incorporated.
Add the contents of the blender into the bowl and mix. Add currants, raisins and lemon peel and mix. I used my hands to make sure everything came together. At this point make sure you put everything into the bowl (this is my mother’s suggestion since there are so many ingredients).
Then the better-half took over–he’s the bread maker in the family. He crafted an oval with the dough (he used his hands but I’m sure a roller would work too). Then we put half of the melted butter over the dough. Then he folded over to the edge. You could also go about 3/4 of the way to the edge as well.
Put a cookie sheet into a brown paper bag (it was tough finding one without advertising all over it–thanks marketing!). Put the oval on the paper bag and slide into the oven. Bake for an hour at 350. Check it at the hour mark and if it is browned (tan-ish-really). Take it out (we did the toothpick trick for doneness) and then brushed on the remainder of the melted butter. And, finally, sprinkle the vanilla sugar on top.
Cool and then enjoy. Actually we let it cool just long enough to cut it and eat. This morning we re-heated in the toaster oven and slathered on some margarine–more butter works too but we’ve been going through butter like a hot knife through butter. Hehe.
