Stollen

Word up. Posting late again. Get used to it.

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.

I actually legit enjoyed this one. To be fair, I didn’t follow the recipe provided (I don’t like to be told what to do). I read a lot about stollen online, and I found that it’s not traditional unless cardamom is used. So I nixed the cinnamon (it didn’t seem right to use it anyway), added cardamom, and just sort of winged it. Plus, I’m really good with bread-making, so I could handle it. Is that conceited? Here are my final thoughts:

-I liked it, my friends loved it.

-The powdered sugar on top really just fluffed everywhere. Next time, I’d probably use a legit glaze.

-I liked the grated citrus zest, but the candied citron was too much. Maybe it was because I made my own and then didn’t cut it into small enough pieces. Either way, I’ll probably just use extra zest next time and omit the citron all together.

-The cardamom made it. For real.

-This recipe made A LOT. I cut it in two, so half is in my freezer. I’ll bake it up sometime soon.

Overall, I learned a new thing and I like it. DB is cool. I’ll admit it.