Holiday Stollen

I was practicing yeast roll knots when I saw his stollen. It was tremendous, rolled up like a carpet and just about as easy to move around. My classmates, engrossed in preparing for our first pastry practical exam, only noticed when I remarked (quite loudly), 'Chef! What is that?'

He smiled. 'Come see.'

My pastry instructor was an old-school Austrian, the hotel chef for a big antiquated property in Seattle who retired to teach. We did all the hotel classics - cloverleaf rolls, danishes, cookies - but none of the things I would call grandmother goods, like stollen. Chef prided himself on his traditional stollen, but said it wasn't something a (his?) business would ask for, so he didn't teach it. I'm sure he had lots of old Austrian traditions that were longing for new life, but they weren't part of the curriculum so we simply watched in awe when he pulled one out of his hat.

So this is my first stollen, and oh how I wish he'd shared his secrets. I'm comfortable enough with dough to work this little carpet roll of my own, but I'm sure there are tricks that might have helped me roll and close the ring better than I did.

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

My stollen was scented with fiori di Sicilia and filled with cardamom-spiked marzipan and candied cherries (from my June Cherry Bus trip). Topping out at over 10lbs, I took the giant stollen to a Christmas party the day it was baked - still warm from the oven and redolent of the smells of home.

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