The families--DNA'ed and extended--loved last year's bread and cookies, so we chose to do it again this year. Pictured is last week's baking. It's not everything but the freezer was chock-a-block, so we're starting shipping today to make more room. We found shipping Priority mail gets fresh or fresh-frozen sourdough--with refresh instructions (375°F oven, 5 mins.)--delivered still palatable and tasty. This year's packages hold a loaf of sourdough or Orange Pecan loaf, a dozen and a half of assorted Biscotti and, of course, a dozen of my rendering of Grandma's Welsh Cakes. This year's Biscotti: Tart Cherry-Pecan, Citron-Macadamia Nut, Almond-Ameretto, and Chocolate-Chocolate chip-Chipotle. Sixteen mailing, and then there is the neighborhood cookie swap, and special friends to gift. We love this time of year!

David G

Hello Everyone,

What do you want for Christmas?

I've been asked this repeatedly by my family and I am looking for some ideas. I don't have a lot of "tools and gear" so I am curious about what things other people would wish for.

Now in the midst of the holidays - and with no better reason to bake - I ask of you:

What baking/bread-related item are you wishing for?

Well, it's that time of the year again and I'm starting to test/tweak my holiday gift-giving recipes.  Having decided to mix things up a bit this year (no pun intended...honestly!), I tested the BBA stollen recipe today!   The immediate family gave it thumbs up, although my marzipan-shy 8 year old was a little hesitant.  

The long story is this:  Last year I made very traditional English Christmas cakes and sent them out far and wide.  The responses ranged from "mmmm!  brandy!" to "what is it, a candle?" to my brother who recounted how his wife went to work and told everyone about the "strange auntie who sends fruitcake...that requires a chainsaw to get into!" (royal icing...it's SUPPOSED to be hard!).  I decided that stollen might be a little more approachable and, thus, the test run. 

I tried to follow the BBA recipe fairly strictly, to get a baseline from which to work.  With that said, this version has four personal tweaks:

1. I am quite certain the weight for the cinnamon in this recipe is off.  The suggested .44 oz of cinnamon seems a lot more than the 1 tsp volumetric measure.  I started by scaling and quickly realised there was a problem, then eyeballed the volume.
2. I wasn't sure if dumping the fruit in meant just the fruit or all the brandy that wasn't soaked up.  I did the latter, then compensated by adding a bit more flour.  It seems to have been a good call.
3. I made this with a different fruit mix based on personal preferences.  For the total 12 oz of dried fruit, I used 4 oz currants, 2 oz each golden and normal raisins and 2 oz each of homemade candied orange peel and lemon peel.  
4. I did go for the marzipan centre, as I believe it is essential.

Here are the results:

(be kind to me here!  It's my first time uploading photos AND the camera's battery was flat so I used the built in camera on my mac so as not to miss the moment...very low res.)

And the crumb, with marzipan centre:

I will DEFINITELY make this again!  Changes I would make next time:

• Would shape correctly - see below.
• Would use a little less cinnamon ( and measure by volume) or perhaps another spice.  I noticed many recipes have no spice in the dough.
• Would more carefully control the rising temps.  I was in and out of our cold house today.

One last comment on shaping... The lightbulb went off AFTER I shaped these, so you may notice it is not shaped "correctly".  It was a little confusing trying to envision the sort-of pleating that takes place to create the pocket on both sides of the top bit.  I'll do it the correct way next time (method 2 in BBA) and may even coops DH into taking a video I can post to help others who were as baffled as I.

I can highly recommend this recipe!

Momma T

A traditional cake/bread made at Christmas time, panettone was created in the Lombardy region and it is the undisputable holiday favorite. Scholars have traced panettone back to the middle ages. The dome shaped sweet bread is traditionally made with candied fruits, raisins and flavored with liquors. Today you can find it with chocolate chips and other ingredients. It is less like a cake then light fluffy sweet bread. The use of natural yeast results in the dough that rises slowly. The rising time can be as long as 48 hours. The long leavening contributes to the long shelf life, which can be as long as 6 months. Italian bakers take pride in the age of their leavening and some are maintained over many years.

 http://turosdolci.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/panettone-a-traditional-sweet-bread-is-a-symbol-of-christmas-greetings/