German Stollen Bread

Makes 2 rings, about 18 pieces each.

Bread

 * 1 1/2 	cup	butter, divided use
 * 1 	cup	milk
 * 1/2 	cup	water
 * 5 1/4 	cups	all purpose flour
 * 3/4 	cup	Sugar, divided use
 * 1 	tsp	salt
 * 2 	pckge	dry active yeast
 * 2 	x	eggs, lightly beaten
 * 1/2 	tsp	grated lemon rind
 * 1/2 	tsp	grated orange rind
 * 1/2 	cup	Raisins
 * 2/3 	cup	chopped candied fruit
 * 1/2 	cup	chopped pecans
 * 1 	tbsp	cinnamon

Icing

 * 1 	cup	powdered sugar
 * 3 	tbsp	water or milk
 * 1/4 	tsp	vanilla
 * Red and green candied cherry halves

Directions

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

Source

 * German Stollen Bread from CookbookWiki -- original source of recipe, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License

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