Stollen 101
Since I am a novice I have a lot to learn about Stollen. In Wikipedia I am advised:
"Stollen is a bread-like cake traditionally made in Germany, usually eaten during the Christmas season as Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen. Stollen (originally Striezel) was created in Dresden in around 1450, and the most famous Stollen is still the Dresdner Stollen, sold, among other places, at the local Striezelmarkt Christmas market.
Stollen is a fruitcake made with yeast, water and flour, and usually dried citrus peel (called "Zitronad(e)), dried fruit, almonds, and spices such as cardamom and cinnamon; the dough is quite low in sugar. The finished cake is sprinkled with icing sugar. The traditional weight is 2 kg, but smaller sizes are now available."
I have read what PR in BBA, RLB in the bread bible, and Hamelmann in bread have to say. (Leader in Local Bread says nothing on the topic.)
RL Beranbaum talked of not liking the dry stollen that most people make and I agree with her totally. She opts for putting her stollen into scone format. Has anyone tried that; and does it work?
PR in the BBA pictures a stollen that I have never seen before. My father in law who migrated from Germany doesn't make stollen the way PR does; each to his own.
Do people have recipes and techniques for a really good stollen that will not end up with dry crumb? I have already noted the recipes that were put up in another thread.
Are there specific techniques for Stollen that I need to focus on? In a sense this will be a one shot deal once a year, so, I guess I am going to want to get it as close to correct as possible since so much work and so many ingredients are involved.
Thanks.