450g (1lb) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1Tbsp. caster sugar
½ x 7 g sachet fast-action dried yeast
¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
2 large pinches ground cloves
1tsp. mixed spice
225ml (8fl oz) milk
40g (1½oz) butter, melted, plus a little extra to grease
2 medium eggs
50g (2oz) sultanas
100-150 g (3½-5oz) marzipan
Icing sugar for dusting
Directions
Step 1
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, yeast, ¼tsp salt and the
three spices. Make a well in the centre. In a pan, heat the milk until lukewarm, then stir in the melted butter. Crack one egg into the well of dry ingredients and pour in half of the milk mixture. Working quickly with your hands, mix thoroughly to form a soft but not sticky dough, adding extra milk as necessary.
Step 2
Tip out dough on to a floured work surface, then knead for 5min until soft and elastic. Transfer to a lightly greased bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise somewhere warm but not hot for 45min.
Step 3
Knead in the sultanas. Weigh the dough and divide into 10 equal pieces. Line a large baking sheet with baking parchment and preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan) mark 6.
Step 4
Knead marzipan until soft, then cut into 10 pieces. Using your fingers, flatten out one of the pieces of dough slightly, then put a marzipan chunk in the middle. Fold the dough around it, then squeeze together to make a neat ball. Repeat
with remaining pieces of dough. Position the balls in a circle, just touching, on the baking sheet. Use the remaining egg to glaze the ring, then bake for 20-25min until golden. Leave to cool on the baking tray as the stollen ring is quite fragile at this stage.
Step 5
Carefully transfer to a serving platter or wooden board. Dust with icing sugar and serve with butter - fantastic for breakfast or as a festive tea-time treat.
Complete the recipe to the end of step 4. Leaving the stollen on the baking sheet, wrap the whole sheet in clingfilm, then freeze for up to one month. To serve, defrost at room temperature, then complete as step 5.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
