Tip: Enjoy freshly made stollen within a couple of days to ensure optimum freshness, or freeze it without the glaze and icing sugar for up to one month.
Ingredients
Stollen wreath
¼ cup caster sugar
2 x 7g sachets dried yeast
1¼ cups warm milk
4 cups plain flour, plus extra for kneading
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2⁄ ³ cup sultanas
½ cup dried cranberries
¼ cup mixed peel
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
90g unsalted butter, melted
2 eggs, lightly beaten
125g dark chocolate,
finely chopped
1 small red apple, peeled,
cored, finely chopped
¹⁄ ³ cup dried blueberries, optional
Icing sugar, for dusting
For the glaze
½ cup water
¼ cup caster sugar
Method
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Add sugar and yeast to warm milk and stir with a fork to combine. Stand in a warm place for 10 minutes or until frothy.
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Sift flour and spices in a large bowl. Add sultanas, cranberries, mixed peel and zest. Mix well until fruit is coated in flour. Make a well in the centre and add yeast mixture, cooled melted butter and eggs. Mix to a soft dough using a wooden spoon.
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Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 3-4 minutes or until smooth. Shape dough into a ball and sit in a large, lightly oiled bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and stand in a warm place for about 1 hour or until well risen. Punch down dough.
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Preheat oven to 200°C. Dust a large oven tray with flour. Knead dough into a round. Cut in half. Roll out, one half at a time, on a floured surface to a 43cm x 25cm rectangle. Sprinkle each rectangle with half of each the chocolate, apple and blueberries. Press into dough. Roll each up firmly, starting from the long side, to form a log. Cut log in half down the centre lengthways to expose layers.
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Carefully plait two halves together by overlapping layers. You will need to hold filling and layers together as you do this. Set plait aside and repeat with remaining dough. Slide both plaits onto oven tray then press ends together to continue plait pattern and form wreath. Push any fruit or chocolate that has fallen out into crevices.
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Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce temperature to 180°C and bake for a further 15 minutes or until golden. Stand for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.
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To make glaze, place water and sugar in a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil. Boil, without stirring, for about 8–10 minutes or until reduced to a syrup. Brush generously over stollen. Allow to set. Dust lightly with icing sugar just before serving.
Tip: Make this stunning stollen gift-worthy by placing it on a festive platter or in a decorative cake tin, finished with a festive bow.
