Daring Bakers' Challenge - Stollen

Stollen with Sugarpaste Bow and Poinsettia
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The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She challenged the Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with techniques from Peter Reinhart and Martha Stewart’s demonstration. Stollen is a bread-like fruitcake made with yeast, water and flour, and usually with zest added to the dough. Candied citrus peels are often also added.

I followed Penny's recipe with only a few exceptions. My goal was to incorporate two favorite flavor combinations: orange and chocolate. The following are the changes I made:

• I doubled the orange zest in the dough and omitted the lemon zest.
• The only candied citrus peels I used were orange (used a total of 1 orange rind).
• For the dried fruits, I used raisins and cranberries soaked in Grand Marnier.
• I used 2 ounces of finely grated chocolate (72%).

I knew I wanted to make the stollen in the shape of a wreath for decorative purposes. I made a large sugarpaste bow for the top of the wreath and made a sugarpaste poinsettia to set on the side.

Unfortunately, the stollen never made it out of the house as my husband and I were the only ones who got to sample it! For several days we sliced off little pieces and ate it all ourselves. In conclusion, my thoughts on the stollen and my changes were as follows:

• When I first came across the challenge I didn't think I'd like it as much as I did. My favorite part was the several layers of butter and powdered sugar applied to the crust.
• The next time I make this wonderful treat I'll add about an ounce more of grated chocolate. The chocolate did come through in the final product, but I think a little more would complement the orange and cinnamon even nicer.

UPDATE: we added a YouTube video with step-by-step instructions! Additionally you may view our printable recipe on our new site.