Our dear friend Vicki began baking Christmas stollen when she was a teenager. But somehow the recipe didn’t leave with her when she left home. So a bit later in life when she wanted to again make stollen for Christmas, it took her years to find a recipe close to what she remembered from her childhood. Even then she had to amend the recipe. But I’m here to tell you, wherever she got the inspiration for this amazing Christmas treat, she has created the perfect Christmas delicacy.

This bread is sweet, but not too sweet, with just enough jewel-like raisins, currents, and pieces of candied fruit embedded in the flavorful bread to make a believer out of the most “fruitcake phobic” individual. There is simply nothing not to like about this stollen! And I haven’t even mentioned the glorious vanilla sugared crust yet. OMG, it is so tasty.

Now I know, I should have posted this recipe way before Christmas. But in my defense, I was a bit busy baking cookies and making candy for my children’s Christmas goodie packages. So any thoughts of writing a post was inconceivable. But it’s really not too late to make stollen this year. In fact, some grocery stores have candied fruit on sale right now. I know QFC does. In fact I recently bought all the fruit I need for next year and have it safely stored in our basement storage room.

So you don’t have to wait for next December. We still have a long winter ahead of us, and nothing would be nicer than to wake up some cold, dreary winter weekend morning to a cup of fresh hot coffee and a slice of this fabulous bread. But I must warn you; it takes stollen about 10 days to sit and contemplate the existence of plastic wrap and aluminum foil before it has fully developed to its rightful potential. And I’m telling you, that’s a long, long time to be patient, especially after the first time you taste this wonderful treat. But, if I can do it – so can you.

So even though there are a lot of ingredients, this bread comes together very easily and remarkably quickly. So no excuses there! Please make this bread. It is simply divine.

Before I end this post, I want to wish you a very Happy New Year. Please join me in praying for peace on earth, a show of unity between parties on issues that concern all mankind, and an end to greed so prevalent as to make most of us who are over 60 glad that we are!

• 5 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1½ c. granulated sugar
• 4 tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground mace
• 2 c. finely ground toasted slivered almonds
• 1 c. (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into roughly ½-inch chunks
• 2 eggs
• 2 c. whole milk cottage cheese
• ½ c. sour cream
• 2 tsp. real vanilla
• 1 T. grated lemon rind
• 1 T. lemon juice or 1 tsp. lemon extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract
• 1 T. dark rum or 1 tsp. rum extract
• 2 c. golden raisins (sultanas)
• 1½ c. currants
• 8 oz. (1 lg. container) candied citron*, lemon peel, or orange peel (I use citron)  
• ½ c. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• vanilla sugar (see recipe below)

Place the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, mace, and ground almonds in the bowl of your food processor. Pulse 5 or 6 times to blends the ingredients. Add the butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Whirl the eggs, cottage cheese, sour cream, vanilla, lemon rind, lemon juice, almond extract, and rum in a blender. Pour into a large mixing bowl.

Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in the raisins, currants, and candied fruit.

Hint: I use a regular table knife to stir in the fruit. Actually with any stiff dough, a table knife is the perfect tool. (Clean hands work well too.)

Divide dough into 4 portions. On a floured surface, gently pat each quarter portion into a circle about ½-inch thick, then fold half of circle ¾ of the way over the other half. Place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes or until the crust is light brown and the bread is done. (I use the old toothpick trick to see if the bread is ready to come out of the oven. The toothpick should come out clean.)

Remove pan from oven and cool breads completely. When cool, slather with the half cup melted butter and sprinkle with copious amounts of vanilla sugar. After two hours or so, wrap each stollen in plastic wrap then a second layer of aluminum foil. Place in a dry, cool place for at least 10 days. (In other words, forget about the stollen while it ages. Good luck with that, BTW!) And don’t worry about the bread molding or anything like that. It will be just fine, in fact, it will be perfect! If you want to keep it for months, it freezes very well. (Vicki tells me, she and Mark keep one of the stollen they bake in the freezer and enjoy it in July. Sounds like a good idea to me!)

Note: If you use candied orange peel, substitute grated orange peel and orange extract/juice for the grated lemon peel and lemon extract/juice. If you use citron (read all about it below) use lemon rind and juice.

*Candied Citron: Candied citron is not candied lemon, orange, or grapefruit peel or a combination thereof. Citron is actually a semitropical fruit that is similar to a lemon but with thicker skin. To make candied citron, the peel is blanched in water, boiled in sugar syrup then partially dried. Citron lends a mild floral note to fruitcakes, panettone, and other such confections. Though the pulp is sour, the candied peel is perfect for baking into stolen.

VANILLA SUGAR

• 1 c. granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla powder (I use Cook’s) or find a recipe for vanilla sugar you like better on line!

Whisk together and store extra in an airtight container.