Curd Stollen
January 6, 2008
Having missed posting this recipe for curd/quark* stollen in December, on account of being an industrious wool crafter with Christmas gifts to be made and then playing virus ping pong with one sweet little runny nosed kindergartner in residence, I elect to post the curd stollen recipe some what delayed with a crisp wintery January landscape as a backdrop. For me stollen is not synonymous with Christmas rather with winter. Meaty nuts, sweet muscular dried fruit baked into a loaf mean winter comfort anytime from December to February. I prefer dried chopped cherries, apricots and or figs. Chopped walnuts and hazelnuts are always pleasing, pistachios can be used to brighten up the loaf and I adore pecans which for my taste buds bring a round maple flavor to whatever they are added to. Being that this is a curd stollen it does not need to age to get better. You can bake it and eat it while it is still warm. My special tip for breakfast and tea time: toast it and slather with butter. N.B.: stay close to the toaster to make sure the fruit does not burn. The recipe is based on one that was on my cake mold box ( Kaiser Stollenbackhaube) when I bought it but I have made enough changes to claim this recipe as my own.
* www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quark_%28food%29
Curd Stollen Loaf (Quarkstollen) 
500 g/ 3.5 cups flour
15 g/ 1 tbsp + 1.5 tsp baking powder
200 g sugar
15 ml/1 tbsp vanilla
1 pinch salt
50ml/1/4 cup Nocello (walnut liqueur)
2 eggs
175 g/6 ounces or 12 tbsp cold butter
250 g/ 1/2 cup curd
100 g/3.5 ounces marzipan
150 g/ 1 cup chopped dried cherries
150 g/ 1 cup chopped dried apricots
100 g/ 1 cup walnuts
50 g/ 1/2 cup hazelnuts
50 g/ 1/2 cup pecans
Sift and mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl gently beat sugar, eggs, salt, Nocello then add to dry ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon. Add butter in pieces, curd, dried fruit and nuts. Knead well with hands.
Press the dough into a buttered stollen mold (mine is 39.5cm long/about 15.5 inches), a long loaf pan or two normal sized. If using a stollen mold, butter a baking sheet as well and then place the mold open side down on the sheet.
Bake at 160° C convection oven or 180° normal for approx. 60 min. or until knife comes out clean.
