Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Cardamom-Marzipan bread (makes 2 wreaths, 4 braids, or 48 rolls):

dough:
1 tbsp + 2 tsp active dry yeast
1/2 cup margarine
2 cups + 2 tbsp "milk"
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup - 1 tbsp sugar
2 tsp ground cardamom
6 1/3 cups flour

filling:
2-4 tbsp margarine
4 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup crushed hazelnuts
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tbsp cardamom
1 7oz tube marzipan, grated

[there is a 1 hour combined rising time without kneading and filling time, so preheat your oven to 200C/375-400F accordingly]

place yeast in bowl or mixer bowl. melt margarine in a small saucepan and add "milk." heat to 37C/98F (if you dip your finger into the mixture it shouldn't feel hot or cold, but just like the temperature of your finger). add to yeast and stir. add salt, sugar, cardamom, and most of the flour (save some for kneading). knead into a pliable dough; it should be soft and not sticky. let rise 30 minutes in bowl, covered with a dishtowel.

place dough on floured worksurface and knead briefly. to make wreath: divide dough into two pieces. roll out into two large rectangles. spread margarine onto dough, then sprinkle sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, and grated marzipan evenly over the entire surface (i used a small handheld grater and peeled back the plastic on the tube of marzipan as needed). roll up the long side of the rectangle as tightly as possible, keeping the seam on the bottom. bring the two ends together to form a circle. using a sharp knife or kitchen shears (shears are easier), cut at small equal intervals most of the way to the bottom of the rolled dough. pinch the tops of each segment and alternate pushing them to left and right. repeat with other half of dough. transfer to greased or parchment-lined baking sheets.

cover with a dishtowel and let rise 30 minutes. [brush with soymilk and sprinkle with pearl sugar if desired.] bake in the lower half of the oven for 15-20 minutes. let cool under dishtowel.

But you know what's even better? The cardamon marzipan bread someone veganized from an old Swedish cookbook. This is the shiznit:

no offence to the first one, it looks beautiful but I am one of those raisin-haters that crop up every so often.

You make me sad.

Plus, as it's a Swedish recipe, I can do my Muppets' Swedish-chef impersonation whilst making it.

Yes.

Raisins make me sad. They're wee embarrassed grapes. I feel sorry for them, poor raisins- what might they have become?

Buying Stollen is totally not cheating! I live in Dresden, one of the famous stollen cities. There are so many bakeries that sell their traditional stollen. They are a huge hit. Okay, buying from Aldi probably is cheating ;)
But on the other hand, Dresden is famous for butter stollen...

hahaha that's what my friend says! raisins are humiliated grapes.

Aldi is German, right, so it's like we're buying an import... it's as close as we can get!
I might try stollen if I can buy it! We just got a new Aldi down the street!

But you know what's even better? The cardamon marzipan bread someone veganized from an old Swedish cookbook. This is the shiznit: