Stollen - German Christmas Bread

For those of you who have never had Stollen, let me properly introduce you. World, meet Stollen.

I know there are probably hundreds of cultural and ethnic variations of this holiday dessert but in its simplest form it is just a Christmas quick bread with a batter much like a muffin or quick bread you are already familiar with.  In the U.S., we can usually find Stollen in high end grocery stores around Christmas and in January, you may see them discounted. If you are tempted, just take one home and try. They are truly delicious.

What makes this type of "quick bread" special is that the main ingredient is quark. I have posted the recipe recently and to make it at home is really quite an easy task so give it a try. If you are American or live in the U.S., I should say, it will be very difficult to find, which is why I highly recommend making it yourself.

I suppose a thick Greek yogurt or Kefir cheese might work as a substitute but if you have even the slightest bit of curiosity, then quark should be on your bucket list of things to do in the kitchen before you forget...  It takes about two to three days to make quark ahead of time but don't let that stop you from exploring two new things at the same time: Quark and Stollen. I promise you, you will not be disappointed so double up and make two batches while you are at it!

This recipe was provided by my mother-in-law who is from Austria but I had to make a few tweaks in order to work with what I had in my pantry. Oddly, I had just made quark, but I didn't have currants so I used dried cherries, for instance. Her recipe called for ground hazelnuts, which surely, would be divine, but I only had almonds, so I used those instead.  I didn't have rum extract so I used vanilla. Go with your best guess substitutes and if you have any questions, just leave a comment.

Stollen Ingredients:

• 500 g soft white wheat ground yesterday (all-purpose or pastry flour is just fine)
• 200 g sugar
• 2 eggs
• 250 g ground almonds
• 500 g quark
• 125 g raisins
• 125 g currants or dried cherries
• 125 g butter
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1 tsp rum flavoring or vanilla extract.

Baking:
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

This was amazing and did not last the week even when we tried very hard to eat just one piece. :) I make two at a time because I usually make about 1000 g of quark at a time.  If you do make two, these freeze very well so just wrap up the extra stollen tightly and securely in plastic wrap, then put it in a large gallon freezer bag and freeze until you need a Christmas pick-me-up.

When you are ready to eat it, take the wrapped stollen out of the freezer bag and plastic wrap and let it defrost on a plate in the fridge or kitchen counter until you are ready to serve. This is where the quark shines... The quark is what will keep it from getting dried out and it will stay moist on the kitchen counter even if left out overnight loosely covered with foil or a clean towel.

Hope you like it and I'd love to hear from you if you do decide to try it!

How to Make Quark

This year was an amazing year in regards to my culinary education.  I usually make New Year's Resolutions and for 2012, most of my resolutions centered around exploring new things and improving upon my limited knowledge of other things. This year, for me, was all about documenting my experiences with the things I personally enjoy the most, which are gardening and cooking.

On the list were things like:

1. Learn how to make cheese.
2. Learn about raw diets and improving health
3. Grow better beets.
4. Improve my techniques for propagating roses.
5. Practice acceptance and tolerance.

So, it's clear some of those items are lifelong ambitions. I'm ok with that. I recognize the importance of learning new things, improving old skills and practicing a wide range of objectives I am neither new to or good at, but one of my passions is food and as such, this gives me quite a wide canvas with which to practice, practice, practice.

I made quark for the first time this year and after seeing how easy it was, it is really hard to imagine why this lovely, creamy, soft cheese isn't available here in the U.S.  At least, I've never seen it in a store and the closest thing I have seen is what the ethnic groceries call "farmer's cheese". No idea yet whether this is the same, but something tells me it is not.

Quark (pronounced just like it looks) is the European's version of  "philly" cream cheese. In fact, when you are in Germany or Austria, they may not know what cream cheese is but if you say "Philly", they know exactly what you mean.  They look similar but they are not at all the same ball of cheese. 

Americans have not been properly introduced to this delicacy, so I am happy to do the honors if this is new to you, too.  Trust me, you will love this cheese if you have any cheese loving qualities in your heart at all. It is not only easy to make at home but it can be eaten sweet or savory, as well.

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 gallon of organic cultured Buttermilk (as fresh as possible; check the dates!)
2. 1 gallon of organic whole cow's milk (as fresh as possible; check the dates!)

How to Make Quark:

1. Let milk come to room temperature and then combine the milks into a large stockpot that can hold your milk. You can use more or less of the two milks above. Those ratios don't have to be exact. This ratio is a bit overkill and lazy, however, it works well. Regardless, I try to use at least a 1-4 ratio of buttermilk to milk.  Use a pot with a lid so you can keep it covered while it does its magic.
2. Let milk sit at room temperature overnight or up to 48 hours. It shouldn't take that long but since this is a mesophilic culture, it means that this culture requires "meso" or medium temperatures to culture properly. In cheese language, that means not too hot or cold, so warmish room temperatures are ideal. In the winter in Minnesota, it can take almost two days if my kitchen is on the cool side.
3. Once the whole pot has cultured, it will look almost solid, like a good set jello mold and it is ready.  You are supposed to cut the quark with a long knife or spatula in a grid pattern. This creates the "curd" and allows it to separate from the whey. Curds and whey? Little Miss Muffet was probably making quark... Not entirely necessary but kinda fun in a messy kid sort of way.
4. Strain the quark to drain off excess whey.  Here, you can make it as dry or as soft as you like. The longer you strain it, the dryer in texture. Too dry, it gets a tad crumbly but some Germans like it this way. Too wet and the cheese will weep a bit, pooling whey in the cheese, which some Germans also like. It's up to you so test it along the way to see what you prefer.  And in case you didn't know better, save the whey! It is very nutritious and you can use it to make bread, soup, stock, broth, or feed your plants. Seriously, it is just as valuable as the cheese itself.  You can even drink it.

What to do with it?

1. Make German Cheesecake, duh?!
2. Make Breakfast quark - German equivalent to yogurt with fruit preserves or fresh fruit. They love pineapple. Interesting and true.  This is pineapple, quark and condensed milk for sweetness. Super yummy.
3. Add chives, onions, salt and pepper and serve it with baked potatoes. You won't go back to sour cream... ok, maybe you will want this AND sour cream. :)
4. Spread it on toast with some jelly. By now, you know what to do with this... if not, figure it out because it is some righteous cheese. 
5. Make Stollen!!  oh yea!  one of my all time favorite Christmas classics, unplugged! I will post my recipe for that in my next post hopefully because my first try rocked my world and the secret ingredient was in fact, my homemade quark!  This is even better for Christmas than my Dad's favorite Christmas raisin bread.

If you don't know what any of this is... then open your mouths, your bellies and your minds, American friends because you are about to be blown away by this little cheese with a million purposes. All good eats, no matter who you are. Unless of course you are allergic to dairy then we have to find something goat-y for you... I made a chevre cheesecake last week and that was pretty darn easy and awesome, too, so stay tuned and by all means, let me know how this works for you.