I made my first loaves of stollen this year. It was a little bit fun, but a lot of work. My loaves turned out flat, at the most they were 2 inches high. I know stollen isn't a super high rising bread, but I would like mine to be a litte less relaxed looking next time, which is probably going to be this weekend. Any ideas on how I can get more lift would be welcome. I'd love to hear from experienced stollen bakers!

Here's a photo of my two loaves

The recipe was from Beth Henspergers "The Bread Lover's Bread Machine Cookbook." I did indeed make the dough in the bread machine, and then shape and bake in the oven. Oh, and the bottom got a little too "crusty" which I think was also due to the relaxed shape. I loved that it was all natural fruits. I can't abide by the food coloring in the other candied cherries. I'm also not a fan of the marzipan glob variety. The dough was kinds wet and globby, a little like that "artisan bread in 5 min. a day" kinda stuff. Once I shaped the loaves they just went "blat" on the baking tray.

Dough:

3/4 cup milk

1 large egg plus one egg yolk

1/2 tsp. almond extract

Grated zest of one lemon

2 3/4 cups unbleached, all purpose flour

1 cup almond flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. SAF yeast or 2 1/2 tsp. bread machine yeast (I used the bread machine yeast)

1/2 cup (I stick) unsalted butter, at room temp. cut into 16 pieces (I had to cut it up into way more than 16 pieces to get it to incorporate)

Dried fruit:

3/4 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup minced dried apricots (YUM!)

1/4 cup dried currants

1/4 cup golden raisins

3 TBLSP amber run (I used apricot brandy, it was all I had)

3 TBLSP boiling water

2 TBLSP unbleached flour

Extras:

3 TBLSP melted butter, for brushing

2 TBLSP sugar mixed with 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, for sprinkling

3/4 cup sifted confectioner's sugar, for dredging

Prepare the fuit by soaking it with the booze and boiling water overnight to plump (I just did it for a couple of hours) Drain the plumped dried fruit (catch the liquid in a measuring cup). Pat dry with paper towels and dredge in the flour. (Oh no, I forgot to pat dry, was that the whole reason for it being such a wet dough. I drained but didn't pat!)

Add enough milk to the reserved fruit juice to make 3/4 cup for the dough.

To make the dough, place ingredients except butter in the pan. Program for the dough cycle; press Start. Set kitchen timer for 7 minutes. The dough ball will be soft.

When the timer rings (you will be in knead 2), open the lid and while the machine is running, cut in the butter a few pieces at a time. This takes quite a few mintues and I had to use a spatula to squish the dough around so it would fold in all the butter. Then, after the butter is incorporated, do the same thing with the fruit. Close the lid and let the machine finish the dough cycle. After the machine beeps at the end of the cyle, set the timer for 1 hour and let the dough continue to rise in the machine.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Dont work the dough. Divide into two equal portions. Using your hands, pat each portion into a 12x7 inch rectangle. Brush the surface of the rectangles with the melted butter and sprinkle on the nutmeg sugar on each half. Make a crease down the center of the oval and without stretching, fold from the long edge over to within 3/4 inch of the opposite side, forming a long narrow, slightly off center loaf. Taper the ends by pinching and rounding the points slightly. Press the top edge of the stollen lightly to seal. Transfer the breads to the baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 30-45 min. (I let rise in the microwave that had been warmed with a bowl of boiling water. I let rise for even a little longer than 45 min., until the dough tested done by not springing back.)

Twenty min. before baking preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the tops of the stollen with melted butter. Bake for 30-35 min., or until lightly browned. If the tops are browning too much, cover loosely with aluminum foil. (I did that). Take care not to overbake (I tried!)

Dredge the warm loaves in the powdered sugar.