Praline Rift Stollen

It's up to you.

16 detailed steps, from preparation to service.

1. Rehydrate raisins and distinguish butters

   Pour the 150 g of raisins into a bowl, cover with warm water and let them swell for 20 minutes. Cut the 140 g of dough butter into cubes to soften them; reserve separately the 30 g of finishing butter. Also keep the 150 g of marzipan intended for the heart apart from any marzipan possibly provided for the decor.

2. Dry the fruit and prepare the egg

   Drain the raisins in a strainer, then dab them with a clean cloth to remove the surface water. Cut the 80 g of candied citrus peels into small dice. Break the egg in a bowl, remove any shell fragments and beat it with a fork; cool the 150 ml of milk around 30 °C.

3. Start the kneading

   Pour the 400 g of flour into the bowl of a robot with the hook or into a large bowl. Add the 7 g of dry yeast, 80 g of sugar, 4 g of salt, warm milk and beaten egg; if the yeast requires rehydration, use some of the milk already measured. Kneaded 8 minutes at low speed, or about 12 minutes by hand by stretching and then folding the dough.

4. Absorbing the soft butter

   Add the 140 g of butter in three portions, letting each portion disappear before the next. Knead for about 8 minutes with the robot, or 10 to 15 minutes by hand, until a soft paste is obtained. Scrape the walls to put the butter back in the dough and do not add flour simply because it sticks a little.

5. Add fruit and cinnamon

   Pour the well-dried raisins, the citrus dice and the teaspoon of cinnamon over the dough. Mix at low speed for 1 minute, or fold several times the dough by hand to distribute the fruits. Check that there is no dry cinnamon left at the bottom and gather everything into a ball.

6. Let it swell in a temperate place

   Cover the bowl or vat and let rise 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, away from drafts. The dough, weighed down by fruit and butter, must swell sharply but can double less than a bread dough. If it remains almost unchanged at the end of the indicated time, give it more time in a room around 24 °C, without heating it directly.

7. Spread the dough and shape the almond heart

   Place the dough on a sheet of baking paper and gently flatten it to chase away large bubbles. With a roller, forms an oval of about 28 x 20 cm; uses a second sheet on it if it sticks. Roll the 150 g of marzipan from the heart between your hands to obtain a 24 cm pudding, shorter than the paste to be able to close both ends.

8. Folding up without letting the heart out

   Place the pudding slightly next to the center of the oval, in the direction of length. Fold the large side of dough over the pudding and press the joint as well as the two ends to enclose the marzipan. Keep a characteristic asymmetrical bump, then moves the stollen with its paper over a plate.

9. Leave for the final rise

   Cover the dough without squeezing and let it rise for another 45 minutes. Preheat the oven to 170°C, conventional oven setting (no fan), for the last 20 minutes of this wait. The shape should soften and swell slightly; avoid handling or overlapping it just before baking.

10. Cook and control the brioche part

    Bake in the middle of the oven for 40 to 45 minutes. Plant a skewer in an area of crumbs next to the almond heart, rather than in the marzipan which remains naturally moist: it must come out without raw paste. If the top turns brown too fast, cover it with baking paper held at the edges of the baking tray, without contact with the heating elements.

11. Brush with the finishing butter

    Melt the reserved 30 g of butter in a small saucepan over low heat, then immediately remove from the heat. As soon as you leave the oven, brush this butter over the top and sides of the hot stollen. Make several fine passes until you use the amount, letting the butter penetrate between the passages, then place the cake on a wire rack.

12. Cool, powder and let ripen

    Allow to cool for about 2 hours, until the bottom is cold, then distribute the 40 g of icing sugar using a small strainer. Pack the cold stollen and keep it in a cool room until the next day before decorating it. This wait facilitates the cuts; do not cut the brioche still hot, because the crumb could settle around the heart.

13. Opening the Fault in the Cold Stollen

    The next day, unpack the stollen and put it on a board. With a serrated knife, cut it in half in length by sawing gently through the crumb and almond heart. Move the two halves on the serving plate with a large spatula, then spread them 1 cm apart keeping their sides cut face to face.

14. Spread the praline paste in the slot

    Stir in 100 g of thick hazelnut praline paste at room temperature, without heating. Place it in the slot in small spoonfuls, then stretch it along the edges of the crumb so that it adheres to both halves. It must form a visible and sustained filling, not a puddle; keep a small portion if the slit is already filled.

15. Making four big chips

    Chop the 50 g of dark chocolate with the knife and put them in a perfectly dry bowl. Pour 2 cm of water into a small saucepan, heat to a gentle simmer and then lower the heat. Set the bowl over the pan without touching the water and stir with a spatula. Remove while a few small pieces remain and stir off the heat until melted. Wipe the bottom of the bowl and do not pour any water into the chocolate. Spread it on baking paper placed on a baking tray, in a rectangle about 16 x 13 cm by 2 mm thick. Let it take 20 to 30 minutes in a cool room, then peel off the paper and break the plate into four large fragments; keep the small fragments for service.

16. Lay the chips on the fault

    Arrange the four splinters across the slit, making them rest both on the crumb and on the praline paste. They must remain low and be well supported, without forming a high bridge or erect spikes. Then cut slices perpendicular to the length of the stollen and serve with the chocolate fragments and praline paste possibly reserved.