WEIHNACHTS stolle
This delicious brioche is usually served on Christmas Eve in Austria [makes 4 logs about 22 cm long]
The marzipan and brioche dough are best made the day before and refrigerated.
for the marzipan [UPDATED 8 December 2021]
600g blanched almond meal
300g caster sugar
40g Cognac
40g bitter almond or 40g finely grated lemon rind
300g room temperature egg white
Weigh everything except the egg white into a food processor or Thermomix and process until very fine.
With the motor running add enough egg white to form a spreadable marzipan.
for
the dough
traditional
for the basic dough…our sweet brioche recipe
200g glacé cherries – can be a mix [1]
100g sultanas, dried cranberries or currants
50g chopped arancia or mixed peel
50g brandy
225g full cream milk
15g dry yeast
130g caster sugar
4 small eggs…room temperature or slightly warmed in hot water
170g unsalted butter…melted but not hot + about 15g to grease the bowl
550g flour + about 50g for rolling the dough
150g blanched almond meal
1 vanilla pod scraped seeds only
40g caster sugar – 60g boiling water
icing sugar for dusting
Marinate the fruit with the brandy and set to one side.
[1] For the fruit we used mixed chopped glacé fruit from Bottega Rotolo and currants….don’t be precious about what you use, but, PLEASE, don’t use mixed dried fruit from a supermarket.
easy
delicious
a great gift
Weigh the milk and yeast into your mixer bowl and whisk until the yeast is dissolved. Add the caster sugar and eggs and whisk at medium speed until the sugar is dissolved and the eggs fully whisked in. Add the butter.
Weigh the flour and almond meal into the bowl and using a k-beater mix for about 30 seconds on low speed then add the almond meal and mix together. With the motor running add the fruit and work just long enough to work in evenly. Scrape the sides down once to make sure there are no flour pockets.
Butter a bowl about twice the volume of your dough and scrape the dough into it. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.
to finish
Lightly flour a work surface and scrape the dough out onto it. Knead the dough until it is smooth and cut it into four. On a lightly floured surface and covered with a sheet of Freezer-go-Between, and working one at a time, roll each piece roughly to a rectangle about 25cm x 20 cm. Leaving a 3cm leading edge spread ¼ the marzipan evenly over the dough. Brush the clean edge with the sugar syrup and roll the dough up pressing it together to seal. and tucking the ends in. Cover two baking sheets with a silicon mats and slide the finished stolle onto the mat.
Mix together the boiling water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Brush the dough with the syrup. Allow to prove until almost doubled…approximately 90 minutes.
pre heat oven to 170°C
Cook the stole for 30-40 minutes, turning them over SUPER CAREFULLY for the last 10 minutes. checka skewer comes out clean. Brush with the sugar syrup again and while still hot roll through the powdered sugar. Cool on a rack.
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traditions are important
Christmas
stolle
This is the type of wondrous gift to give an Austrian or German a long way for home, or just anyone who has an a sweet tooth…..there is nothing better than stolle with a good coffee and a glass of schnapps or even better [in my humble opinion] a great Cognac on Christmas morning for the opening of presents.