Christmas Sneaker Stollen

It's up to you.

15 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Distinguish paste, garnish and finish

   Weighing 400 g of flour, 7 g of dry yeast, 80 g of sugar and 4 g of salt. Cut 140 g of diced soft butter for the dough and keep the 30 g of finishing butter in a separate small bowl. Prepare 150 g of raisins, 80 g of candied citrus peels, 150 g of marzipan, the teaspoon of cinnamon and the 40 g of icing sugar. The chocolate remains reserved for the decor, after cooling.

2. Rehydrate the raisins and prepare the egg

   Put the 150 g of raisins in a bowl, cover them with warm water and let them swell for 20 minutes. Drain them in a strainer and then dry them with absorbent paper; no free water should pass through the dough. Cut the 80 g of candied peel into small dice. Meanwhile, heat the 150 ml of milk to about 30 °C, break the egg in a small bowl and beat it briefly with a fork.

3. Mix and knead the starter dough

   Pour the flour, dry yeast, 80 g of sugar and 4 g of salt into the bowl of the robot equipped with the hook. Mix the dry ingredients, then add the 150 ml of warm milk and the beaten egg. Kneaded about 8 minutes at slow to medium speed, until the dough gathers and begins to soften. If the yeast requires rehydration, use part of this same milk by following its sachet, without increasing the amount of liquid.

4. Absorbing the soft butter

   Add the 140 g of butter in three servings while the hook rotates slowly. Let each portion mix before pouring the next. Continue kneading for about 8 minutes, scraping once the walls with a spatula. The dough must become supple and homogeneous; it remains denser than a very light brioche dough, but there must no longer be any visible piece of butter.

5. Stir in fruit and let grow

   Add dried raisins, candied citrus dice and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix 1 to 2 minutes at a small speed to distribute the fruits without crushing them, then gather the dough at the bottom of the bowl. Cover and leaves for 1 h 30 to 2 hours in a temperate room, around 24 °C. This fruit-rich dough must swell sharply; do not necessarily expect the same volume as a natural brioche.

6. Prepare the almond heart and the oval of dough

   Cover a baking sheet of paper. Roll the 150 g of marzipan between your hands on the worktop to form a 24 cm long, evenly thick pudding. Slightly press on the raised dough to chase the big bubbles, then spread it between two sheets of baking paper in an oval of about 28 x 20 cm. Remove the top sheet by lifting it gradually.

7. Lock in the almond and form the bread

   Place the almond pudding on the oval of dough, slightly next to its central axis in the direction of the length. Fold the widest side over, with the help of paper if necessary, so as to fully cover the almond and keep an asymmetrical bump. Gently pinch both ends to enclose the heart. Round one end to evoke the end of the shoe and keep the other a little more square for the heel; the volume remains low and stable.

8. Let rise on the plate

   Transfer the stollen with its paper on the plate and cover it without tightening. Let it rise for about 45 minutes: it should swell again and look more flexible. Towards the end of the shoot, turn on the oven at 170 °C in conventional oven setting (no fan) and place the grill in the middle. Remove the laundry before cooking and leave space around the bread for it to cook regularly.

9. Cook the stollen without coloring the top too much

   Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Check around 40 minutes that the top and bottom are golden, then pushes a skewer into an area of crumb next to the almond heart: it should not carry raw dough. Does not target the naturally moist marzipan for this control. If the top goes too far, cover it with baking paper; if the crumb is not taken, extend it by a few minutes.

10. Brush the 30 g of finishing butter

    During the last few minutes of cooking, gently melt the reserved 30 g of butter in a small saucepan or bowl in a bain-marie. Take out the stollen with oven gloves, then brush all the top and sides with this butter, with a brush, as long as the bread is hot. Only pours what the crust can absorb, by ironing several thin layers rather than a large puddle. Place the stollen on a wire rack supporting it with a wide spatula.

11. Cool and let the aromas develop

    Allow to cool for about 1 h 30 to 2 hours, until the bottom no longer gives off heat. Then use the 40 g of icing sugar as indicated at the finish, keeping future chocolate gluing areas as clean as possible. For a more pleasant crumb to slice, wrap the cold stollen and ideally wait until the next day before decorating and serving. This extra night is optional and is in addition to the minimum rest time on the card.

12. Prepare the two chocolates of the sneaker

    Chop the 100 g of white chocolate with a knife and put them in a small, perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a saucepan and simmer gently, then lower the heat. Place the bowl above: its bottom should not touch the water. Stir with a spatula until only a few small pieces remain. Remove the bowl from the heat and keep stirring so the residual heat melts them. Wipe the bottom of the bowl; no drop of water should fall into the chocolate. Melt the 40 g of dark chocolate separately in another dry bowl. Place the cold stollen on the flat, rounded tip forward, and prepare two cornets. If you have already powdered it, remove the excess sugar from the strips where the chocolate will be laid with a dry brush, so that it adheres to the crust.

13. Draw the white sole and laces

    Place a small cone of baking paper in a glass, point down, and half fill it with a spoon. Fold over the top to keep chocolate away from your hand, then cut a 2 to 3 mm opening at the tip. Pipe a test line on the paper: a continuous ribbon should flow when you squeeze gently. Use white chocolate to draw a wide strip along the visible base, about 1 cm from the dish, like a sole. On the top, then draw five to six large transverse white lines, slightly crossed two by two if you wish, to evoke laces. Keep simple lines directly on the bread; no loop holds in the air. The 100 g is an amount of work: do not thicken the lines to deplete the bowl.

14. Add the heel and finish the icing sugar

    With dark chocolate, draw a small strip on the squarer end of the stollen to evoke the heel. Cover the chocolate lines with a sheet held above and lightly dry ingredients the parts of brioche remained naked with the finish 40 g of icing sugar, if you have not already done it after cooling. The remaining sugar is a surplus of powder; do not add it to chocolate. Harden any chocolate leftovers on paper for reuse.

15. Let freeze and slice the bread-sneaker

    Let the decor take about 30 minutes in a cool room. The chocolate should be firm and no longer mark to the touch before moving or packing the stollen. To serve, cut slices with a bread knife, in small movements back and forth, supporting the bread with the other hand. The heart of marzipan is discovered at the cut; the sneaker remains a full bread, without sculpture or hidden support.