QUARK-POPPY SEED STOLLEN AND CINNAMON-VANILLA TOASTED ALMONDS

Lena from Mein leckeres Leben (My Delicious Life) shares with us her delicious recipe for quark and poppy seed stollen. Perfect for afternoon tea with family and friends:

Filling

• 50 g butter
• 200 g poppy seeds, ground
• 50 g raw cane sugar
• 100 g ground almonds
• 150 g prunes, chopped into small pieces
• 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
• ½ organic orange, zest
• 1 tbsp rum
• 1 egg
• 50 ml milk

Plus:

• 50 g butter, for coating
• Icing sugar, for coating

1. For the filling, melt the butter. Then mix the poppy seeds, sugar, almonds, orange zest and cinnamon in a bowl. Add the egg, milk, rum, chopped prunes and the butter and let it soak for 10-15 minutes.
2. For the dough, beat together the flour, sugar, vanilla, baking powder and salt. Add quark, butter and eggs and knead everything into a smooth dough.
3. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured work surface into an approx. 1 cm thick rectangle (approx. 25 × 35 cm). Then spread the poppy seed filling on it.
4. Fold the two shorter sides of the rectangle over the filling. Roll up the dough from one of the two long sides to about a third, then roll up the other long side and extend a little over the other roll to create the typical stollen shape.
5. Place the stollen on a baking tray lined with baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 190 °C.
6. Bake the stollen for 10 minutes. Then reduce the temperature to 170 °C and bake for 30-35 minutes.
7. After baking, brush the stollen hot with melted butter, sprinkle with icing sugar and let cool.

1. Toast all the almonds in a pan until they begin to release a wonderful aroma.
2. Sprinkle the cinnamon and vanilla over the toasted almonds and mix.
3. Add maple syrup (it will hiss a little), glaze the almonds and let them caramelise for another 30 seconds.
4. Let the toasted almonds cool.