For December, the Bread Baking Babes made stollen. I have made stollen before, although not with this particular recipe.
The hostess this month was Susan of Wild Yeast.
First, the good news. This bread has an amazing flavor, probably from soaking all the dried fruit in rum overnight and adding bunches of spices.
Now, the bad news. Try as I could, this dough would not rise for me. I know it wasn't the yeast because I also made some other yeasted dough at the same time, and that dough rose beautifully. I'm stumped.
I proceeded as if all was well, but was sorely disappointed in the results. I'm aware that rich doughs can take longer to rise, but this one never did. Oh, and when I removed the best looking loaf from the pan, it broke in two, crumbling. Definitely not a success.
Perhaps, someday, I'll try again. But do go to the BBB blogs via Susan's website and see what this bread is really supposed to look like.
4 comments:
Stumped indeed. A number of those baking this recipe had the same rise - lack of - problem.
I understand what you say about your yeast but I wonder if the results would have been better with the osmotolerant yeast. I've used it from time to time; it's more expensive and I don't just keep it on hand. It is suppose to work better than ordinary with rich sweet doughs.
Sorry about the fracturing loaf.
Thanks for baking with us!
Too bad!!! Exactly the same thing happened to me, Judy. Just curious, did you hand knead?
I froze my failed Stollen and I have found that I can use a sharp knife to carefully cut it thinly and then toast the slices. They are still a bit crumbly but rather like excellent Biscotti.
Oh, so sorry you were disappointed, although your loaf does look lovely! The dough does not rise very much; it's more like it becomes "puffy." I'm glad you liked the taste, though. Thank you for baking with us this month!
I think your loaf looks much better than mine!
Because yours is so crumbly, I wonder if you could make bread pudding or a modified trifle with it. (Mmmmm, whipped cream AND Stollen. What could be more decadent?)
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