Baguette Bag Stollen

It's up to you.

17 detailed steps from preparation to service.

1. Rehydrate raisins and prepare fruit

   Pour the 150 g of raisins into a bowl, cover with warm water and wait 20 minutes. Drain them and then dry them with a clean cloth or absorbent paper so as not to soak the dough. Cut the 80 g of candied citrus peels into 5 mm diced pieces. Soaking water is thrown away: it does not replace the 150 ml of milk in the recipe.

2. Separate dough and finishing ingredients

   Weigh 140 g of soft butter for the dough and keeps 30 g of finishing butter in another bowl. Also reserve 40 g of icing sugar for the end and 150 g of marzipan for the heart. Chocolates and, depending on the decor, pink marzipan remain apart; do not knead them with fruit.

3. Prepare milk, yeast and egg

   Heat the 150 ml of milk to about 30 °C. Read the package leaflet of 7 g of dry yeast; if it requires rehydration, make it in this milk without adding liquid. Break the egg in a small bowl, remove any piece of shell, then beat it with a fork for 20 to 30 seconds to mix white and yolks. Cut the 140 g of soft butter into small dice to gradually incorporate them.

4. Start to knead the dough

   Pour the 400 g of flour, 80 g of sugar and 4 g of salt into the robot bowl or large bowl, then mix the dry ingredients. Add milk, yeast and beaten egg. Crocheted for about 8 minutes at slow speed, or 10 to 12 minutes by hand by folding and pushing the dough with the palm.

5. Add butter without adding flour

   Add the 140 g of butter three times, kneading after each addition until the pieces disappear. Follow the robot for about 8 minutes, a little longer by hand. The dough should be flexible and even, even if it remains slightly sticky. If it seems to come off at first, continue gently rather than adding flour immediately.

6. Stir in fruit and cinnamon

   Add well-dried raisins, candied citrus dice and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Knead only 1 to 2 minutes to distribute the filling. Gather the dough in the bowl and cover it. Leave to rise for 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours in a temperate room: this rich dough must swell sharply, without necessarily doubling as fast as a bread dough.

7. Prepare the almond heart

   During lifting, briefly knead the 150 g of plain marzipan between your hands to make it supple. Roll it on the worktop in 24 cm, starting from the center towards the ends to keep a regular size. Place this pudding on a baking paper and cover it so that it does not dry while waiting for the shaping.

8. Spread the dough in oval

   When the dough has swelled well, gently squeeze it with the palm to chase away the big bubbles. Lay it on a sheet of baking paper and flatten it on a roll in an oval of about 28 x 20 cm. If it retracts, wait 5 minutes and then resume without forcing. Avoid crushing the fruit to the point of tearing the dough; fold one edge on a small tear if necessary.

9. Lock in the almond pudding

   Lay the 24 cm pudding in the length of the oval, slightly off-center, leaving about 2 cm of dough free at each end. Fold the widest side over it to lock it up, then gently pinch the ends. Keep the characteristic asymmetrical bump of the stollen. Slides the paper and bread onto a plate without pulling on the solder.

10. Leave for the final rise and preheat the oven

    Cover the bread without squeezing and let it rise for about 45 minutes. It must appear more swollen and more flexible under a slight pressure of the finger. Preheat the oven to 170 °C, conventional oven setting (no fan), with the oven rack in the bottom third. Remove the cover before baking; do not reshape the bread after this last rise.

11. Cook by monitoring the top and bottom

    Cook for 40 to 45 minutes at 170°C. The top and bottom should be golden; a spike embedded in the dough, next to the almond heart, should emerge without raw dough. Avoid testing only the heart, naturally mellow. If the top browns too much, put a sheet of baking paper on it and continue for a few minutes, without increasing the temperature.

12. Brush with butter and cool

    Gently melt the 30 g of finishing butter in a small saucepan. At the exit of the oven, brush the still warm bread with a brush by spreading all this butter on the top and sides. Let stand for 10 minutes on the plate and then transfer the bread to a rack. Wait about 2 hours, until it is completely cold, before the sugar and decor.

13. Powder and spot the flap

    When the stollen is completely cold, place it on the serving dish and sift the 40 g of icing sugar on top and sides. You can pack it and wait until the next day for a sharper cut. Spot a large rectangle on top, about 2 cm from the edges, for the flap; slightly remove excess sugar on this route with a dry brush.

14. Separate the chocolate for the handle and flap

    Weigh the 130 g of dark chocolate in two separate portions: 80 g for the handle and 50 g for the contour and the collage. Chop 80 g of dark chocolate with a knife and put it in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Place the bowl on a saucepan containing 2 cm of barely simmering water, without the bottom of the bowl touching the water. Stir gently with the spatula and remove the bowl as soon as the pieces are almost melted; continue to stir off the heat. Wipe the bottom of the bowl before moving it: no drop of water should enter the chocolate. Draw a U of 18 x 8 cm on the back of a baking paper placed on a baking tray. Spread the chocolate on this track to obtain a handle about 1.5 cm wide and 3 to 4 mm thick, without fragile wire.

15. Let the handle take and then draw the outline

    Let the handle harden at least 45 minutes flat in a cool room. While waiting, melt the remaining 50 g of dark chocolate in the same soft bain-marie. Reserve a small spoon to secure the pink loop, then pour the rest into a cornet and trace the rectangle of the flap on top of the bread. A single thick contour is enough; adds neither fine stitching nor carved relief.

16. Cut and lay the pink buckle

    Knead the 60 g of pink marzipan to soften it and spread it between two sheets of paper at about 4 mm. Cut a rectangle of 4 x 3 cm for the loop and keep the offcuts apart. Place a drop of reserved dark chocolate in the middle of the front edge of the flap, then place the pink rectangle on it with barely pressing. Roll the offcuts in small bites to serve next to, without thickening the loop.

17. Lay the handle completely flat

    Check that the handle is firm, then take off by folding the paper behind it and supporting it with two spatulas. Lay it directly on the plate against the bread, with its two ends near the bag; it must never be suspended or carry the cake. Let the outline and loop take 30 minutes. Cut the stollen by the side and distribute the handle into pieces with the parts.