Stollen - a magical Christmas cake with dried fruits

For the filling, pour boiling water over the almonds for 1 minute. Rinse with cold water, peel, dry and chop finely.

Chop candied fruits finely, mix with nuts and raisins. Pour rum over everything and set aside.

You can use other favorite dried fruits and nuts for the filling.

Heat milk to room temperature. Dissolve 2 tablespoons of sugar in it, add yeast, stir and leave for 10-15 minutes in a warm place until the dough foam rises.

In a bowl, combine flour, remaining sugar, egg, yolks, softened butter, vanilla extract, zest, salt, spices and dough. Knead into a smooth, soft dough.

Grease a large bowl with vegetable oil, put the dough in it and cover the container loosely with cling film. Leave in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour.

During this time, the dough should double in volume.

Drain any excess liquid from dried fruits and nuts. Pound the dough, add the filling to it and mix well.

If the dough becomes too sticky, add a little flour to it and knead until it starts to come loose from the sides of the bowl.

Form two shtollins. Make thick oblong rectangles out of the dough; the dough should be thicker on the long sides than in the middle. Place a third of the dough on the other side, covering the middle.

If, during the proofing, dried fruits began to stick out from the stollen, gently crush them into the dough so that they do not burn when baking.

Place the blanks on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with cling film and leave to rise in a warm place for another 40-60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 175 degrees. Bake stollens 35-40 minutes until golden brown, then remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes.

Allow the stollins to cool completely, wrap each tightly in plastic wrap or foil and leave in a cool place for 2-3 weeks.