Christmas Stollen with Honey Marzipan

Have you ever had Marzipan? We believe the best Marzipan is sweetened with honey! 

A typical holiday recipe in German-speaking countries is the Stollen. There is no other country on earth where bakeries coordinate their production as seasonally as they do in Germany. Customers expect their favorite baked goods to be available and, all year long, they look forward to having those goods.

There are many variations of Stollen, and Regina created this delicious recipe that we look forward to trying for Christmas!

Servings: 1 Stollen

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup warm milk, 85F
• 1 large egg
• ½ tbsp active dry yeast
• ½ tbsp Brazilian Iguaçu River Wildflower - Silvestre  (Buy it on Amazon)
• 5 oz unsalted butter, room temperature
• 2 oz dried cranberries
• 2 oz dried cherries
• 2 oz chopped hazelnut
• 5 oz brandy or other alcohol
• Zest from one orange

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix cranberries, cherries, chopped hazelnuts and orange zest with brandy, cover with plastic wrap and leave for about 5-6 hours, I prefer to leave it overnight.
2. In a mixer bowl combine milk, honey and active dry yeast, let sit for 5-7 minutes, until the foam appears on top of the mixture.
3. Add in the egg, butter, flour, and dried fruit mixture.
4. Knead the dough in the mixer for 10 minutes, until it’s soft and silky.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and leave in a warm place for about 1.5-2 hours or until double in size. Using your hands, knead it a little bit, cover and leave for another hour.

Honey Marzipan:

 Ingredients:

• 3 cups of blanched almonds
• ½ cup of Brazilian Iguaçu River Wildflower - Silvestre
• 2 tbsp of lemon juice
• 1 tsp of almond extract
• 2-3 tbsp of water

Instructions:

1. Process almonds in a food processor until very fine and almost paste-like.
2. With the food processor running, slowly add the honey, lemon juice, almond extract and water, 1 tsp at a time, if needed.
3. Process until the mixture forms a paste. Remove marzipan mixture to plastic wrap. Roll into two log shapes

Assembling stollens:

1. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, and knead it couple times, divide into two halves. Roll each piece of dough into an oval shape about ½-inch thick.
2. Using thin rolling pin press on the bottom of stollen a little bit, creating the deepening. Place marzipan inside of it and then fold each piece of dough in half lengthwise, leaving the edge of the top half about ½-inch short of the edge of the bottom half.
3. Place the shaped stollen on the prepared baking sheet and bake at 375F until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool down completely.