Racing Bakes: German frangipane stollen
A return to the beautiful Eifel Mountains deserves a beautiful sweet treat
This weekend brings another impromptu stop in the Formula 1 calendar, with the first trip to Eifel since 2013. The Nurburgring is known for its epic challenge, endurance racing, and pushing the limits of what's possible. All this on the Nordschleife, aptly nicknamed the Green Hell. Formula 1 is an altogether different animal and, as awesome as it would be, we don't go racing on the Nordschleife but on the equally challenging (almost) F1 circuit.
As you might expect in October in Eifel, the weather was punishing on Friday. Freezing cold, relentlessly raining, and too foggy for the medical helicopter to take off, so there was no running. Having not been here for 7 years, or at all for some drivers, the absence of running leaves a massive unknown and with it due to be freezing again on Sunday, it's going to be one to watch!
To celebrate F1's return to the Nurburgring, this weekend we are making German stollen. I don't want to hear any complaints that this is a Christmas treat because if ever there was a year to have an early Christmas treat, this is surely it!
A beautiful sweet bread recipe with frangipane filling and, to make it a little more luxurious, a strand of chocolate chips! Don't underestimate the difficulty of plaiting 3 strands of wet, raw dough! As you can see from the images of what it was supposed to look like and what it actually looks like - it's not easy! But definitely worth it!
A german delight
Ingredients
- 375g plain flour
- 65g caster sugar
- 1 packet of active dry yeast
- 65ml milk
- 250g unsalted butter
- 170g golden caster sugar
- 170g ground almond
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 100g chocolate chips
Instructions
Bread
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and yeast. In a small saucepan, heat milk and 65g of the butter till its warm but not steaming, it's important its not so hot that it kills the yeast.
- Add the milk and butter to the dry ingredients and beat till combined and smooth.
- Tip onto a floured surface and knead for about 10 mins till smooth and springy. Place in a well oiled bowl and cover. Leave it in a warm place to prove for an hour.
- After an hour, punch the air from it then tip it out and divide into three.
The filling
- Combine the rest of the butter, the eggs, the golden caster sugar, ground almonds and the almond extract till it forms a paste.
- Chop the chocolate into small chunks.
Bringing it together
- Roll 1 of the 3 dollops of dough into a rectangle of about 30cm by 15cm. Tip the chocolate chips into it and roll into a strand before placing it on a parchment lined baking tray.
- Roll another of the dollops to the same size and spread half of the frangipane over the whole surface, leaving about an inch around the edge. Roll into a strand and place next to the other strand.
- Repeat step 2 for the last dollop of dough.
- Make a gash of about half an inch down the middle of each strand, leaving an inch at the top and bottom. This should be facing up at all times.
- Pinch the top of the strands together and plait them all the way to the end. Pinch the last bits together and tuck it under.
- Leave to prove for 30 minutes before baking for 30 minutes at 190°C. Leave it to cool on a wire rack and decorate how you like!
Recipe by
Me
Join In
Comments (12)
That looks fantastic! 😀
That sounds great
It’s so tasty
Doesn't seem like it would be overly sweet
Looks amazing Jeffers 😍!!
Thank you! It’s the sort of thing you can eat all day with coffee - dangerous stuff 😅
Conceptually I love stollen. The sad reality is that my nut allergy means it's unlikely I'll ever try some stollen, which is a shame because yours looks amazing!
Allergic to all nuts or just certain ones?
All nuts and coconut.
Looks very good!