Step-by-Step to Stunning New Stollen

In my opinion, Christmas Stollen is the kind of treat that should really be available all year round. But many people - mostly those who have never tasted real almond paste - are put off by the idea of the 'marzipan' inside. If you're one of them, then do consider making your own stollen using hazelnut paste instead. The recipe is further on in this post, and it makes a stollen in a whole different league.

Speaking of different leagues, there is the increasingly vital question of how to cater for all our vegan and gluten free friends. This year, as usual, I'll be baking traditional stollen to order for the Parish of Sparkwell; lots of real butter and eggs, organic spelt flour, rum-soaked fruits and spices. But if you would like to make a vegan and gluten free stollen, for yourself or your lucky loved ones, I've invented a brand new recipe, which is the purpose of this post.

Ingredients for one Gluten Free, Vegan Christmas Stollen

Ferment

• 5g
• Sugar
• 7g Instant yeast
• 25g Oat flour (or sorghum)
• 25g Chestnut flour
• 60g Oat or other plant milk

Dough

• 30g Sugar
• 30g Tigernut flour
• 30g Chestnut
• 50g Arrowroot 
• 7g Psyllium husk
• 50g Aquafaba
• All the ferment
• 50g Vegan block, cubed

Fruit ( leave soaking up rum overnight)

• 70g Sultanas
• 60g Raisins
• 50g  Candied peel
• 20g  Rum 
• Freshly ground seeds from 6 cardamom pods
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg (or more if you like)
• A few generous pinches of freshly ground black pepper.

TIP if you don't have time, you can cheat the fruit part with 180g vegan brandy mincemeat (Waitrose is v.good!)

To get aquafaba, save the liquid from draining a can of chickpeas. One tin will give you enough for two stollen.

Almond paste or hazelnut paste

• 60g ground almonds / hazelnuts
• 20g icing sugar
• 20g caster sugar
• 20g aquafaba - mix all ingredients with a fork and bring together in a ball

To finish, you'll need maple syrup and aquafaba for brushing, and extra icing sugar for dusting.

Method

1. To make ferment, dissolve sugar in warm milk.  Mix yeast into flours. Combine to make a paste. Leave in a warm place to rise for about one hour, until the ferment has peaked or even dropped .

Ferment on the right, ready to incorporate into flours.

1. To make the dough,  add the ferment and the aquafaba to the combined flours and sugar. Work into a dough and knead for a minute until smooth. 
2. Work in the vegan block.
3. Work in the mincemeat / fruits.
4. Leave  dough in a warm place to rise for one hour.  It will have risen slightly and become fluffier.  

1. To shape the loaf, on a rice-floured board, roll out the almond paste to about 20cm x 15cm.  Pat the dough out to a slightly bigger rectangle. Put the almond paste on top and then roll up, like a Swiss roll.  
2. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush with 1 tbsp aquafaba+1tbsp maple syrup.  

Proving & baking

1. Leave to prove in a warm-ish place until you have noticed an increase in size.  (Not too warm, or the vegan block melts and the loaf sprawls. If it does, put it in a loaf tin; still works, just a different shape!)
2. Bake in a pre-heated oven 180°C for 30 minutes until golden.  If the loaf still wobbles a little bit, don’t worry, it will firm up as it cools down.  
3. Dust with icing sugar.

We hope you enjoy yours! Let us know.