braided marzipan stollen

filled with homemade almond marzipan and candied lemon peel. November 2023

note how much had been eaten by the time it was photographed

day two of my twelve days of christmas: stollen!

ready for the oven

this is a slightly non-traditional braided stollen with marzipan tucked into each strand

I’ve become a massive fan of almonds and marzipan over the years, and this braided shape was a way to sneak even more marzipan into a small loaf

marzipan gets rolled into each strand

the homemade candied lemon peel is optional, but a great way to use parts of the fruit that might otherwise go to waste. you can store lemon peels in a bag in the freezer, and save them up over a few weeks to make a big batch of candied peel (which is also useful for mince pies, christmas pudding, panettone and so on)

yields 1 small stollen

ingredients

candied peel

3-4 lemons (squeezed, rinds only)

1 cup caster sugar

1 cup water

marzipan

this makes about twice what you need, store the rest and turn into marzipan chocolates

100g almond flour

100g confectioner’s sugar

1 tsp almond extract

1 egg white

stollen

150g plain flour

23g caster sugar

5g milk powder

0.25 tsp salt

0.5 tsp ground cardamom

0.5 tsp ground ginger

quarter nutmeg, freshly grated (or 0.5 tsp ground)

0.25 tsp cinnamon

45g warm water

1 tsp yeast

45g butter, softened

zest of half a lemon

1 tsp vanilla paste

assembly

100g marzipan

90g raisins

50g candied peel

25mL hot water

butter for brushing the stollen out of the oven

confectioners sugar to top the marzipan

method

candied peel

place the lemon peels in a medium pot and add enough water to cover

bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes to soften the peels and remove some of the bitterness

taste a small section of peel. if still very bitter, strain out and repeat with fresh water

once the peels are softened and less bitter, slice into pieces

add the caster sugar (1 cup) and water (1 cup) to a medium pot and bring to a boil to dissolve the sugar

reduce to medium heat and add the peels

let cook, stirring occasionally, until the peels are slightly translucent and candied (about 35-40 minutes)

remove the peels from the syrup and spread on a wire rack to cool (place a plate or tray underneath to catch the extra syrup that will drip off)

once cool, store in an airtight container in the fridge until required

you can also store the syrup, which would make a lovely soak for a lemon cake or cordial for summer

marzipan

blitz together the almond flour (100g) and confectioners sugar (100g) in a food processor or blender until fine and well mixed

add in the almond extract (1 tsp) and egg white (1) and mix until it forms a thick paste

turn out onto plastic wrap, form into a log and store in the fridge until required

stollen

add the raisins (90g), candied peel (50g) and hot water (25mL) to a small bowl and set aside to soak

in a large bowl, sift together the flour (150g), caster sugar (23g), milk powder (5g), salt (0.25 tsp), ground cardamom (0.5 tsp), ground ginger (0.5 tsp), ground nutmeg (0.5 tsp), and ground cinnamon (0.25 tsp)

pour over the warm water (45g), sprinkle over the yeast (1 tsp), and mix to form a rough, shaggy dough

add the butter (45g), vanilla (1 tsp), and lemon zest and knead to form a smooth dough

cover and let rise in a warm place for 90 minutes

punch down the dough and add the raisins and mixed peel and knead to incorporate

flour your work surface

cut into 3 even pieces and roll out each piece one at a time into a rough rectangle about 20cm high and 8cm wide

roll the marzipan (100g, or about half of the batch above if making from scratch) into three long logs, each the length of the dough rectangles

place the marzipan log in the middle of the dough and roll up so the marzipan is in the centre

you may want to brush the long end with water so the dough sticks to itself

repeat until you have three dough logs filled with marzipan

braid the logs together to make a small braided loaf

cover and let rest for one hour

preheat oven to 180°C

bake for 25-30 minutes

brush with melted butter as soon as it come out of the oven and dust with a heavy blanker of confectioners sugar

let cool, and serve in slices

look at those marzipan pockets!

variations

hazelnut & cherry: make hazelnut marzipan by replacing the almond flour with an equal weight of ground hazelnuts, and swap the raisins for dried cherries (unsweetened, if you can find them!)

pistachio & fig: swap half the weight of almond flour for whole pistachios, and blitz together in a blender to make pistachio marzipan and add finely chopped dried figs