Fruit Ingredients:

• 1 cup chopped candied fruit and peel mix
• 1/2 cup chopped red candied cherries
• 1/2 cup chopped green candied cherries
• 1/2 cup golden raisins, chopped
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons amaretto liqueur

Dough ingredients:

• 3-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon lemon oil or extract
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 ounce envelope instant yeast
• 3/4 cup milk, warmed to 115°F.
• 1 large egg, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon speculaas spice mix (see recipe here)

Other ingredients:

• 8-12 ounces prepared marzipan or almond paste (see note below for almond paste)
• 1/2 cup slivered blanched almonds, chopped
• 1 cup powdered sugar (more or less)

Method:

1. Bring orange juice to a boil (I used the microwave) and pour over the fruit mix in a bowl, stirring in the amaretto. Let sit one hour or more; after that, drain the fruit well, reserving the liquid.
2. In an electric mixer fitted with a dough hook. mix the flour, lemon oil, salt, yeast, milk, egg, butter, sugar spice mix, plus that reserved fruit soaking liquid, scraping down the bowl and kneading with the dough hook until the dough is smooth, silky and neither very sticky or crumbly (it may feel lightly tacky or not). You can add flour or water a tablespoon at a time to adjust if you need.
3. Turn dough out into an oiled mixing bowl and cover with plastic wrap. leaving an edge open.
4. Allow to rise for about an hour or until doubled in size. I keep a heating pad beneath the mixing bowl and cover the plastic on top with a clean dish towel since my kitchen nearly always manages to be cool and drafty and dough loves to stick in my towels to my disdain.
5. After an hour, heat your oven on low for a little bit and then turn it off, checking your oven temp to to see that it remains around 80-100°F. You could also set up to proof in the oven this way as well, but since I like to inspect the dough, I don’t want to fan the oven door. Since the dough will be large, it will need the oven as a proofing box rather than the heating pad.
6. Place the dough back into the mixer with the hook and knead in the fruit and nuts, adding flour or liquid as needed, one tablespoonful at a time, to achieve the smooth silky dough that is neither crumbly or really sticky.
7. Decide if you want 2-3 smaller loaves or one large ring. For smaller loaves, cut the dough in half or thirds and shape into a wide flattened loaf; spread marzipan on the center of the dough and fold over to seal the marzipan, pinching the dough together about 3/4 way across the top. Place loaves on parchment lined baking sheets.
8. If making a ring, divide the dough into two pieces onto parchment paper and flatten out, spreading the marzipan in the center. Tuck the two pieces together end to end and pinch both together. Spread the marzipan across the center then fold over to seal the marzipan, pinching the dough closed. Slide the parchment onto a baking sheet and slide the dough into a ring shape, pinching the edges together again.
9. Allow loaves or dough ring to raise for about an hour or until doubled in size.
10. Heat the oven to 350°F.
11. Bake the loaves or ring about 30-35 minutes or until browned, or if you want to be geeky-tech about it, it should probe with a thermometer to 190°F.
12. Allow stollen to cool completely then dust with powdered sugar. I added a few cherries for the photo for added color, you can if you want but it’s not required.
13. Store as you would cake; dust with more sugar before serving if needed.

Note: My almond paste was unexpectedly thin; it should have a more firm texture- if not I added one cup powdered sugar to the mixture from the can, then found I needed to remove about half cup as the amount was too much to  put into the dough, But no problem. After cooking, the almond paste disappeared into the dough more than marzipan would have, but the flavor was still all there even if I couldn’t see it. No big deal I guess unless you insist on seeing the tube of filling- then make sure you use prepared marzipan and not the almond paste. Just so you know that they may not be 100% interchangeable.

From the kitchen of palatablepastime.com