Big Bake 2010 Addendum: Stöllen
one final note on baking activities for the 2010 holiday season. as noted somewhere else, we never got the Chrisses their cookies, for a variety of reasons, and I didn't feel as though giving 2-week-old cookies as a gift was the right thing to do. instead, we sorted out of the bag originally intended for the Chrisses all the cookies that we wanted to keep (spicy chocolate crinkles!!), and David took the rest to work. journalists, like most office dwellers, will eat anything that looks remotely edible.
instead, on New Year's Day, I baked one batch of stöllen. just one. and I took my time with it. we were cleaning and I was doing some other things in the kitchen, so there was no hurry on it rising or for the dough to rest or any of a variety of other needs. this is good, because though Mom says the second rise for this recipe for her typically takes no more than 45 minutes (if that), the second rise for mine took well over an hour. I lost track after a while, but I think it was 1:20, in a warm-ish oven.
in the making of stöllen, if one is making a braided loaf, one must separate the dough into three strands, stretch the strands to the appropriate length, and then braid as normal. I was standing by the counter as I did this, and Randy was standing by because he always stands by just in case something falls into his bowl. considering the placement of his bowl, this is not an empty hope. seeing unexpected movement, I looked down and saw his nose at the edge of the counter where one of the stretched strands of dough was hanging over just a little bit. just a little, but enough for him to see and smell it, and try to taste it! I told him no, but then I laughed, because I find him so funny I can't help it. he left, because I think he doesn't like to be laughed at.
anyhow, so I made one stöllen batch and cut it in half. one half I made into a loaf for the Chrisses. the other half was cut in half again. I shaped both smaller portions into braids, and one was baked and the other was put in the freezer.
it was AWESOME. that was some of the tastiest stöllen I've had in a while! [not surprising, considering last year's adventures.]
the only unexpected hitch came about because I slopped the remaining couple tablespoons of milk into the recipe in order to use it up. whoops! I forgot I needed milk for the frosting! so I made the frosting with almond milk instead, and it tasted just fine. didn't set up quite right, though, even though I frosted it before we went to bed and let it sit all night so the frosting would set. it still melted messily in the spots where the plastic wrap was touching it after wrapping, but I still took it to the Chrisses on Sunday and cheerfully gave it away. I mentioned to Chris that the frosting was melting a little, and they might want to eat it up quick or put it in the fridge. then it was officially their problem.
I am a stöllen fiend. I could have eaten that entire little loaf I made for us all by myself in one sitting. oh, so good! I know one reason it's good is because of long associations from the past. stöllen fiend, I. I'm glad we only had that one quarter loaf, because clearly stöllen is a trigger food. but... we have another one in the freezer. for later. all I have to do is get it out sometime, let it thaw and do its second rise, and bake. theoretically. never tried it with this dough before, so I guess we'll find out!
instead, on New Year's Day, I baked one batch of stöllen. just one. and I took my time with it. we were cleaning and I was doing some other things in the kitchen, so there was no hurry on it rising or for the dough to rest or any of a variety of other needs. this is good, because though Mom says the second rise for this recipe for her typically takes no more than 45 minutes (if that), the second rise for mine took well over an hour. I lost track after a while, but I think it was 1:20, in a warm-ish oven.
in the making of stöllen, if one is making a braided loaf, one must separate the dough into three strands, stretch the strands to the appropriate length, and then braid as normal. I was standing by the counter as I did this, and Randy was standing by because he always stands by just in case something falls into his bowl. considering the placement of his bowl, this is not an empty hope. seeing unexpected movement, I looked down and saw his nose at the edge of the counter where one of the stretched strands of dough was hanging over just a little bit. just a little, but enough for him to see and smell it, and try to taste it! I told him no, but then I laughed, because I find him so funny I can't help it. he left, because I think he doesn't like to be laughed at.
anyhow, so I made one stöllen batch and cut it in half. one half I made into a loaf for the Chrisses. the other half was cut in half again. I shaped both smaller portions into braids, and one was baked and the other was put in the freezer.
it was AWESOME. that was some of the tastiest stöllen I've had in a while! [not surprising, considering last year's adventures.]
the only unexpected hitch came about because I slopped the remaining couple tablespoons of milk into the recipe in order to use it up. whoops! I forgot I needed milk for the frosting! so I made the frosting with almond milk instead, and it tasted just fine. didn't set up quite right, though, even though I frosted it before we went to bed and let it sit all night so the frosting would set. it still melted messily in the spots where the plastic wrap was touching it after wrapping, but I still took it to the Chrisses on Sunday and cheerfully gave it away. I mentioned to Chris that the frosting was melting a little, and they might want to eat it up quick or put it in the fridge. then it was officially their problem.
I am a stöllen fiend. I could have eaten that entire little loaf I made for us all by myself in one sitting. oh, so good! I know one reason it's good is because of long associations from the past. stöllen fiend, I. I'm glad we only had that one quarter loaf, because clearly stöllen is a trigger food. but... we have another one in the freezer. for later. all I have to do is get it out sometime, let it thaw and do its second rise, and bake. theoretically. never tried it with this dough before, so I guess we'll find out!