Christmas Stollen

Ingredients:
2 pounds flour
10 grams yeast
1/2 pound sugar
2 packages vanilla sugar It's about 1 tablespoon in the package.
1 pound raisins (16 oz)
1/2 pound almonds
1/2 pound unsalted butter (2 sticks)
1/2 pound Fat (8 oz) (probably something like Crisco)
1 teaspoon salt
Juice and (grated) rind of two lemons
1 cup Captian Morgan rum (or some other rum)
1/4 liter milk.

DIRECTIONS
The evening before: The 1/2 pound butter and fat heated together and then left to cool -- will become solid again. Also mix the raisins with the rum and lemon juice and let stand overnight. The next day, dissolve the yeast in the warmed-up milk (@115-120 degrees F. Add to flour, knead til blisters form in dough, and leave to rest for 2 hours. Then mix in all other ingredients, knead til dough is again "alive". Let stand another hour. (These are all the instructions I got.) However, I assume you would shape it in the somewhat rectangular form that you hopefully remember and bake til done -- toothpick test. My guess would be at 350 and start testing after an hour.

1. The night before:
   1. Melt butter and Crisco together and allow to re-solidify overnight
   2. Grate the lemon zest from the lemons, put in a container for use tomarrow
   3. Put raisins in a medium bowl, squeeze lemon juice into raisins, and add 1 cup of rum, cover and refrigerate overnight.
2. Warm 1 1/4 cups milk to 110 degrees and disolve 1 teaspoon suger into it. Add 1 package of yeast
3. Put 1 lbs of flour in mixer bowl. While mixing with dough hook add milk/yeast mixture. Mix for about 5 minutes.
4. Cover and let rise for 2 hours (70-80 degrees works best)

Ingredients

Fruit

8 oz. Paradise brand Old English fruit mix, 1 cup cherries diced
1/3 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup zante currants
1/4 cup spiced rum like Captain Morgan

Sponge

1 pkg active dry yeast, 2 1/4 tsp.
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1/2 cup scalded whole milk, cooled to under 110°
1 cup all-purpose flour

Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 6 tbsp softened butter 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt 2 tbsp granulated sugar 2 tsp vanilla extract 1 tsp almond extract 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg 1 egg yolk 1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds 2 tbsp melted butter to brush onto baked stollen 3 to 4 tbsp granulated sugar to sprinkle onto stollen

Instructions

1. Place the fruit into a bowl or jar and add the rum. stir to coat. Soak fruit for 1 hour or up to overnight in the refrigerator.
2. Place the water and yeast in a small bowl and stir with a fork to dissolve the yeast, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the milk and flour and whisk to incorporate. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise 20 to 30 minutes.
3. Place the sponge and all additional dough ingredient, (minus the fruit and almonds), into the stand mixer bowl. Beat with the paddle attachment until all the flour is mostly incorporated. 5 mins.
4. Switch to a dough hook and knead the dough on low speed, (KitchenAid 2), until it forms a ball. 5 mins.
5. Add the fruit and its liquid along with the almonds and mix on low until the fruit is well distributed in the dough. You can use a spatula to help push the ingredients together. If the dough is sticking to the bowl, add more flour, 1 to 2 tsp. at a time until the dough releases from the bowl.
6. Coat the sides of the bowl with cooking spray to prevent sticking and cover with a dish towel and move to a warm place. Let the dough rise until the volume doubles, 2 hours.
7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Take the dough and separate into 2 equal size balls. Form the loaves by pressing the dough into a rectangle approx 10" by 8". Fold one of the 10" sides over to make a loaf approx. 10" by 5". Crimp the joined dough well with your fingers.
8. Place the loaves on the parchment, cover again, and let rise for 1 hour
9. Preheat oven to 350°.
10. Place the stollen into the oven until the internal temperature is at least 190°, around 40 minutes. If the loaves seem to be getting too brown, tent them with foil.
11. When the loaves are done, place them on cooling rack and immediately brush with melted butter and generously sprinkle with granulated sugar. (Powdered sugar can be used also, but I prefer granulated sugar).
12. Once cooled to room temperature, place the loaves into plastic bags or fully enclose in plastic wrap. Store at room temperature until ready to eat. The flavor improves with aging 1 to 2 weeks. Store in a cool place for longer storage times.

Modified from: https://www.joeshealthymeals.com/dresden-style-german-christmas-stollen/