German Stollen Bread

Description
German Stollen Bread from Recipes Wiki—original source of recipe, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License
 * Makes 2 rings, about 18 pieces each.

Bread

 * 1½ cup butter, divided use
 * 1 cup milk
 * ½ cup water
 * 5¼ cups all purpose flour
 * ¾ cup sugar, divided use
 * 1 tsp salt
 * 2 pkg dry active yeast
 * 2 eggs, lightly beaten
 * ½ tsp grated lemon rind
 * ½ tsp grated orange rind
 * ½ cup raisins
 * ⅔ cup chopped candied fruit
 * ½ cup chopped pecans
 * 1 tbsp cinnamon

Icing

 * 1 cup powdered sugar
 * 3 tbsp water or milk
 * ¼ tsp vanilla
 * red and green candied cherry halves

Directions

 * 1) In a 1-quart glass bowl, melt 1 cup of butter.
 * 2) Add milk and water.
 * 3) In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, ¼ cup of sugar, salt, and yeast.
 * 4) On low speed, stir in warm milk mixture, then eggs; mix well.
 * 5) Add rinds, raisins, fruit, and nuts; mix well.
 * 6) Cover dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for several hours or overnight to rise.
 * 7) Divide dough in half.
 * 8) For each half, place on a floured surface and roll into an 18 x 12-inch rectangle; spread with ¼ cup of softened butter.
 * 9) Mix ½ cup of sugar with the cinnamon; sprinkle mixture over butter.
 * 10) Beginning with the long edge, roll up dough into a long cylinder, pinching edge to seal.
 * 11) If ends of dough are smaller than the remainder of the roll, trim off about 1 in.
 * 12) From each end.
 * 13) Place roll on a 12- to 14-inch round pizza pan greased or lined with baking parchment.
 * 14) Shape roll into a ring to resemble a large doughnut.
 * 15) Brush ends with water and pinch together to seal.
 * 16) Using clean kitchen shears or a sharp knife, make cuts in dough about every inch around ring, cutting ⅔ of the way through roll at each cut.
 * 17) Gently turn each piece of dough onto its side, slightly overlapping the previous piece.
 * 18) Let rise in a warm place, uncovered, for one hour.
 * 19) Preheat oven to 350°F.
 * 20) Bake each ring 25 – 30 minutes until light golden brown.
 * 21) Remove from oven, loosen ring from pan, and slide ring onto cooling rack.
 * 22) Combine icing ingredients, except cherry halves, and drizzle or brush icing over ring.
 * 23) Decorate with candied cherry halves.