I am finally back in Singapore! And I am so glad the work trip is done and over with. It was a most interesting experience, in terms of culture, work experience, and understanding how things are done in China. The food was great – a lot of mala heat, Sichuan spice and beef/mutton too. Breakfast at the hotel was decent, with a variety of Chinese vegetable stir-fry, watermelon (okay… but they were not sweet *sulk*), coffee (yay! but it was a bit diluted), tea leaf eggs, beef noodles, congee, millet soup and sausage (yay!) There was also soggy noodles served during one of our desperate lunches at the hotel to get away from official work lunches. My favourite food? It has to be the sheng jian bao at the food street along the cross junction of the old town. The hot soup spurted out with every bite of the bun. At 9 degrees Celsius out in the cold. Nicccceeeee.
I must say that I do miss the Christmas atmosphere when I was there in Luoyang. It’s a really strange experience to be away from Singapore, to land myself in a place where nobody celebrates this festival at all. And I missed Christmas, knowing very well we are in the midst of it already, and almost there. And I miss digging into simple meals where lunch can be just a sandwich with espresso.
This recipe is my cure for the hangover from the lack of festive spirit during the past week. It is the famous Dresdner Christstollen (Christmas cake) that originates from Dresden, Germany. The authentic versions supposedly have a log of marzipan in it, which helps to sweeten the deal because the cake tastes very plain and neutral without. But because the cake is topped with a snow of icing sugar as well, it can sometimes become overwhelmingly sweet. So be warned – but it is a once in a year deal, so why not just take it and enjoy it.
I miss Dresden so much, so eating this cake slice by slice is how I get to reminisce the German city and its Christmas market in hot sunny Singapore. Wishing I can be there again soon.
Ingredients:
- Almond flour: 1.5 cups
- Powdered sugar: 1.5 cups + 1 cup
- Almond extract: 2 tsp
- Egg white: 1, large
- Dried raisin: 225g
- Candied orange peel: 150g
- Rum: 1/2 cup
- Instant dry yeast: 3 tsp
- Caster sugar: 1/2 cup
- Milk: 1 cup, lukewarm
- Plain flour: 4 cups
- Egg: 1, large
- Egg yolk: 2, large
- Unsalted butter: 3/4 cup (170g) + 2 tbsp (melted)
- Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
- Lemon zest: 1 lemon
- Salt: 1 tsp
- Ground nutmeg: 3/4 tsp
- Ground cinnamon: 1/2 tsp
Method:
- Combine almond flour, 1.5 cups powdered sugar, almond extract & 1 egg white together. Knead to form a thick dough which is marzipan (about 370g). Divide into 2 portions. Roll each into a log, cling wrap and chill in the fridge till ready to use.
- Combine raisins, candied orange peel & rum to soak overnight in fridge.
- Stir yeast & 2 tbsp caster sugar into milk. Let sit for 15min till frothy.
- Combine plain flour, remaining caster sugar, 1 egg, 2 egg yolks, 170g butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, ground nutmeg & ground cinnamon in a mixing bowl.
- Using a dough hook, whisk together for 1min till combined.
- Add in yeast mixture. Whisk for 7min till dough comes together. Wrap & proof 1hr till doubled.
- Punch down dough to release air. Whisk in dried fruits with rum.
- Divide dough into 2 portions. Roll out one portion to form a flat rectangular shape.
- Place 1 marzipan log in center of dough. Fold dough up left and right,then top and bottom to cover marzipan. Use hands to press the dough to form a center hump. Cover and rest 1hr. Repeat this step with the other dough & marzipan log.
- Preheat oven at 190 degrees Celsius. Pick out the dried fruits that stick out of dough to prevent burning.
- Bake 30 – 40min till golden. Poke the top of the loaf with a stick about 50 times. Brush with 2 tbsp melted butter while loaves are warm. Immediately sprinkle with 1 cup powdered sugar to cover the loaf like snow.
- Cool for 15min before slicing to serve.
Tricks:
- The stollen is sweet – super sweet. One way to reduce the sweetness is to use only half the amount of marzipan in each loaf. The other way is to reduce the amount of powdered sugar sprinkled on top of the baked loaf. The stollen itself is actually not too sweet so there’s no need to reduce the sugar content for the cake.
- You can make your own candied orange peel if you have time. I simply bought mine off the supermarket shelves.
Serving:
2 loaves (about 8 to 10 slices per loaf)