Stollen with American Pistachios

Fruit: Lightly roast the American Pistachios and allow plenty time to cool. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Cover and place in a warm place, stirring every two hours, until all the liquid is completely absorb.

Sponge: Warm the milk to not more then 32°C (90°F) and dissolve the yeast in the milk. Add the flour and work by hand into a wet dough. Place the remaining flour on top of the sponge and rest in a warm place until the sponge rises to about three times its original size and breaks through the flour.

Dough: To prepare the final dough, combine all remaining ingredients except the soft butter and fruits soaker in a mixing bowl. Using a dough hook, mix the dough in first gear for three minutes. (Clean up stage.) Stop the mixer and scrape down the side of the bowl. The dough will appear dry at this point. Shift to third gear and mix for additional 8 minutes, gradually adding the soft butter until you have a well-developed elastic dough. Return to first gear and add the fruit mixture, carefully blending without destroying the fruits. After mixing the dough temperature should be ideally 25°C (76°F). Allow the dough to bulk ferment for 30 minutes. Cover the dough to prevent the surface from drying out, avoiding an “elephant skin”. Apply two 3-fold, one in each direction, gently pressing the dough down. This will release the gases and supplies the yeast a new food. Repeat this step three more times, allowing the dough to rest 20 minutes each time.

After the third cycle is completed use a balance beam scale and divide the dough into 430 g (15 oz) pieces. Round the dough pieces, and allow the dough to bench rest for 5 minutes at room temperature, keeping the dough covered at all times, before rolling them to about 6 inch in length. Then, place a rolling pin lengthwise into the center of the dough log. Press firmly and roll the pin to stretch the piece into an oval that has two thick ends. When the desired proportion has been achieved, fold over one end so the rests just below the opposite end, forming two rims. If you want to fill the stollen, place your filling on the dough just before you close the fold. Place the stollen on a parchment-lined sheet pan, and cover with a plastic. Proof at room temperature for about twenty minutes. Remove the plastic and gently compress the edges of the stollen with a rolling pin, be careful not to damage the rim. Bake without delay at 182°C (360°F) for about 20-25 minutes, until they are light golden brown with an internal temperature of 82°C (180°F). Remove the stollen from the sheet pan onto a cooling rack.

Brush the stollen immediately with the melted clarified butter while the stollen is still hot. Multiple applications will be required to use all the butter, so be patient. When the stollen is cool, roll them in vanilla sugar and then dust them with powdered sugar. Package the stollen in a cellophane bag with a decorative ribbon. Every bite of the Christstollen, filled with its rich history and flavor, will surely please you.

Notes
In Germany, some say that Christmas without stollen is like winter without snow. Variations of this traditional Christmas bread warm kitchens in bakeries throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria during December.

Its origin dates back to the Middle Ages and it full of Christian symbolize, the shape of the stollen represents the Christ child wrapped in a blanket in the manger. Today this characteristic shape is achieved by two methods. One method is to form it by hand, which gives each stollen its individual characteristic shape. The other method more common for mass production is to bake it in a mold, given the stollen a “perfect” shape.

The Christstollen as it is called in Germany is traditionally associated with Christmas and is the version that Americans are most familiar with. However, many different types of stollen share the common shape, but include different ingredients. For example, the almond stollen has almond filling (almond paste which is made smooth with simple syrup and rum), hazelnut or pistachio and cardamom filling. The accompanying formula produces traditional Christstollen, which often fill store shelves during the first day of Christmas, the Advent. Because stollen has a long shelve life, about two weeks, it can be displayed early in the Christmas season without loosing quality. This attribute also benefits customers during the busy time of the year. They can buy several loaves to have on hand for unexpected visitors or for a house full of holiday guests. Christstollen is perfect to serve with coffee or tea.