Quick curd cheese stollen

A quick take on stollen: the dried fruit does not need a week in rum, nor the loaf a month of resting. The curd cheese cannot be tasted in the finished bake.

Ingredients

For the filling

• dried fruit (dried cranberries, candied orange peel, dried apricots, raisins) — 500 g
• brandy — 350 ml
• raw almonds — 200 g

For the base

• sugar — 180 g
• vanilla sugar — 15 g
• butter — 250 g
• eggs — 2
• curd cheese 9% — 250 g
• cinnamon — 1 tsp
• nutmeg — 1/2 tsp
• flour — 550 g

To finish

• icing sugar — 100 g
• butter — 100 g

Method

1. Prepare the filling. Cut the dried fruit into medium pieces and rinse it. Cover with brandy and leave to steep for at least 3 hours.
2. Cover the almonds with boiling water, leave for 10 minutes and then peel them.
3. In a deep bowl, beat the sugar, vanilla sugar and room-temperature butter with a mixer.
4. Add the eggs and beat.
5. Add spices to taste — cinnamon and nutmeg work well.
6. Add the curd cheese and the juice of one lemon and beat until smooth. The mixture will be quite fluffy.
7. Add the dried fruit and nuts. Stir.
8. Add the flour in stages along with the baking powder and bring the dough together. It will be quite soft.
9. Line a baking tray with paper and shape the stollen. Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for up to an hour.
10. Let them cool a little, brush with melted butter, dust generously with icing sugar and wrap in foil.

Tips

• Bring to room temperature 2–3 hours before serving. It really does taste better on the second or third day.