Famous German Traditional Christmas Bread [Stollen]

Taste: Sweet and Fragrant; Process: Baking; Time: One Day; Difficulty: Moderate.

Detailed Steps for Making Famous German Traditional Christmas Bread [Stollen]

First, soak the dried fruits. It is best to do this 2-3 days in advance. Mix all the dried fruits together, and add rum. The dried fruits will not be completely covered by the rum, so it needs to be stirred occasionally to allow the dried fruits to fully absorb the rum.

After soaking, drain the dried fruits and set aside.

Wash the lemon and orange with salt, and scrape off the zest for later use.

Make the starter. Mix milk, flour, and dry yeast together.

Let it ferment in the oven at 30 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes.

When the surface is bubbly, it is ready.

Put all the dough ingredients except for the butter into the bread machine, along with the starter.

Select the kneading program for 20 minutes.

Add the butter and continue kneading until the butter is completely integrated.

Add the roasted pistachios and drained dried fruits, and stir to distribute the dried fruits evenly.

Take out the dough and shape it into a round ball, then continue to ferment until it is 1.5 times larger. Because there are too many dried fruits in the dough, it will affect the fermentation expansion force. When it is about 1.5 times larger, it is ready.

After fermentation, take out the dough and divide it into 3 pieces of about 360g each, and roll them into balls.

Flatten the dough and roll out 1/3 of it in the middle.

Flip it over and press a groove in the middle of the other 2/3 of the dough.

Fold the flattened part over, and press the edge into the groove.

Finally, shape the dough into a crescent shape by hand, and the baby Jesus in the swaddling clothes is complete.

Repeat for the other two dough balls. Continue to ferment until 1.5 times larger.

Place them on the middle rack of a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees Celsius for 30 minutes. Take out the baking sheet and rotate it 180 degrees halfway through baking, then continue baking.

When it is done, brush melted butter on the surface while it is still hot, and sprinkle thick powdered sugar on top. Seal it after it cools.

The finished product.

It is better to wait a few days before slicing and eating.