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The German Christmas bread, more famously known as the stollen or sometimes referred to as the Christstollen, is a centuries-old German bread rich in eggs, milk and butter, and usually only slightly sweet.
Stollen
Yield = 4 Stollen
Soak the day before:
Sultanas - 400 grams
Currants - 80 grams
Rum - 60 grams
Water - 60 grams
Dough
Bread Flour - 1200 grams
Sugar - 90 grams
Salt - 6 grams
Butter - 300 grams
Milk - 280 grams (28°C)
Instant Yeast - 20 grams
Add
Cinnamon - 8 grams
Nutmeg - 4 grams
Cardamom - 4 grams
Walnuts - 60 grams chopped
Almonds - 60 grams chopped
Almond stick
Ground Almond - 130 grams
Caster Sugar - 130 grams
Egg - 70 grams (the amount will vary as the egg is only required to bind the almond and sugar and for rolling consistency)  
Method
- Mix dough stage
- Note this will be a reasonably firm dough. Check carefully for development.
- Cover and leave to rest for 40 minutes.
- Add spices and nuts and sultana-rum mix
- Mix through on slow speed until fully combined
- Let rest for further 30 minutes
- Scale stollen @ 700 grams each, mould into rectangle shape, Intermediate prove for 10 minutes
- Roll out keeping rectangle shape, keeping ends thick as per picture 1.
- Place almond stick in centre, fold dough over almond stick, push down on dough slightly in front of where almond stick is to give a crease on top of stollen (picture 2).
- Dry prove for approximately 40-50 minutes. (You can use a prover but watch that you lower the temp so as not to melt butter out of the dough.)
- Bake at 175°C approx. 40 minutes – check centre for bake with skewer
- Brush immediately with butter, leave to go cold
- Brush again with butter and dredge in sugar, then dust with icing sugar
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