Stollen Loaf Cake and a few other bits

I was sent some lovely recipes this week for Christmas Baking for the holidays from Dr Oetker.   They all look so fabulous I don't know which one I want to try first.  I think the Stollen Loaf Cake is looking pretty good from where I am sitting.  I have everything I need in the house to make it and I adore Stollen anyways.  I love anything which smacks of almonds and dried fruit!  The Spiced Lemon Cookie Wreath  also looks like a strong possibility.  In any case I am sharing all the recipes with you today.  Christmas Jumper Cookies, Stollen Loaf Cake, Spiced Lemon Cookie Wreath, Mini Chocolate Gingerbread Loaves and a Winter Forest Chocolate Cake!  There's a Merry Christmas in the "Baking!"  You know if the recipes are from Dr. Oetker, that the recipes must be great.  They are the creme de la creme of bakedom!

*Stollen Loaf Cake*

Makes 10 portions

Printable Recipe 

Your favourite Christmas bread in a loaf cake.  From the people at Dr Oetker.

For the cake:

125g unsalted butter, softened (generous 1/2 cup)

125g of caster sugar (2/3 cup, super fine)

3 medium free range eggs, beaten

190g plain flour (1 cup plus 6 1/2 TBS)

1 1/2 tsp Dr Oetker Baking powder

1 tsp ground mixed spice

1 tsp Dr Oetker Natural Sicilian Lemon Extract

150g Dr Oetker Marzipan, cut into small pieces (scant half pound)

200g Mixed dried fruit, such as sultanas, cranberries and chopped dried apricots ( 1 1/3 cup)

To decorate:

300g Dr. Oetker Marzipan (3/4 pound)

Icing sugar to dust

2 tsp clear honey

225g Dr Oetker Regal Ice (1/2 pound)

Pomegranate seeds

Rosemary Sprigs

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Grease and line a 2 pound loaf tin with a loaf tin liner or baking parchment.

Cream the butter and sugar together in a bowl until pale and creamy.  Beat in the eggs.  Sift the flour, baking powder, and mixed spice on top.  Add the Lemon Extract, chopped marzipan and dried fruit.  Gently fold and mix all ingredients together until thoroughly mixed.  Spoon into the prepared tin.  Smooth the top and bake in the oven for about 1 hours until slightly risen, firm to the touch and a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.  Cool for 15  minutes in the tin before removing to a wire rack to cool compltely.

To decorate, knead the Marzipan gently for a few seconds to soften and make pliable.  Cut off 75g (about 1/4 pound) and set aside, covering it to prevent it from drying out.   Lightly dust the work surface with icing sugar and roll out the remainder to the same size as the top of the loaf cake.

Brush the top of the cake with the honey and carefully transfer the rolled out Marzipan to the top.   Gently press into place and mould to fit right to the edge of the cake.  Roll out the regal ice the same way.  Brush the maripan layer with a little water and transfer the regal ice on top.  Dust your fingertips with a bit of icing sugar and gently rub and smooth the icing to fit the top of th ecake.  If necessary, trim the edges and regal ice with a sharp knife to neaten up.

Roll out the reserved Marzipan to a thickness of 1/4 inch and cut out 8 holly leaves using a 2 inch cutter and rerolling as necessary.  Place on a baking tray and scorth the tops with a cooks blow torch.  Alternately place under a hot grill for a few seconds to toast.  Allow to cool completely before removing from the tray. 

To serve, arrange the toasted Marzipan leaves on top of the iced cake, securing in place with a bit of water and decorate with the pomegranate seeds and rosemary sprigs.  Your cake is now ready to serve and enjoy!

*Spiced Lemon Cookie Wreath*

makes 1 cookie ring + 33 cookies of various sizes

Printable Recipe 

A really pretty addition to your holiday festivities!  From the people at Dr Oetker.

For the cookies:
300 g Plain Flour (10oz) (2 cups plus 1 1/2 TBS)
Dr. Oetker Bicarbonate of Soda
Sachet (x1 sachet)
15 g Ground Cinnamon (15ml/grams or 1tbsp)
Dr. Oetker Madagascan VanillaGrinder
115 g Unsalted Butter (4oz, cut
into small pieces) (1/2 cup)
150 g Light Brown Sugar (5oz) (3/4 cup)
75 ml Golden Syrup (75 grams or ml or 3oz) (3 fluid ounces)
5 ml Dr. Oetker Sicilian Lemon Extract (1 tsp)
Medium Egg (beaten)

To decorate:
100 g Icing Sugar (3 1/2 oz, plus extra to dust) (3/4 cup)
454 g Dr. Oetker Ready to Roll
 Marzipan (1 pack) (about a pound)
30 ml Honey (2 tbsp, clear honey)
454 g Dr. Oetker Ready to Roll (about a pound)  


 Line 4 baking trays with baking parchment. Sift the flour, Bicarbonate of Soda and
cinnamon into a bowl. Add a generous amount of ground Vanilla and the butter,
then gently rub the butter into the spiced flour using your fingertips, until well
blended and the mixture resembles fresh breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar.

Make a well in the centre and add the syrup, Lemon Extract and the egg. Mix the
ingredients together until roughly blended then bring together using your hands to
make a firm dough. Turn on to a lightly floured work surface and knead gently until
smooth.

Divide the mixture in half, and roll out one half to a thickness of 1/2cm (1/4inch) to
form a rough circle. Cut out a neat 22cm (9inch) (using a baking tray or plate as a
template) round and transfer to one of the baking tins. Cut out an 18cm (7inch)
inner circle from the middle to form a ring, prick the ring with a fork and chill for at
least 30 minutes.

Gather up the trimmings and mix into the remaining half of the cookie mixture.
Using 3 x 8cm (3inch) festive shaped cutters – we used a heart, Christmas tree
and a 6 point star - stamp out 5 of each shape. Place spaced apart on the
prepared baking trays.

For the top layer of the wreath, you'll need another 6 cookies – we used an 8cm
(3inch) holly leaf cutter and a 6cm (2 ¾ inch) bell shaped cutter. Re-roll the
trimmings to make more cookies – we made 6 x 8cm (3inch) birds and 6 x 8cm
(3inch) candy canes. You should be able to make approx. 33 cookies of assorted
shape and size. Prick the cookies with a fork and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan assisted oven, 375°F, gas mark 5). Bake
the ring and a tray of cookies for about 10 minutes until firm to the touch and lightly
golden round the edges. Cool for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to
cool completely. Cook the remaining 2 trays of cookies as above.

To decorate, sift the icing sugar into a small bowl and mix in approx. 20ml (4 tsp)
warm water to make a smooth, spreadable glacé icing. Cover the surface with a
layer of cling film and leave to one side.

Gently knead the Marzipan to soften it and make pliable. Lightly dust the work
surface with icing sugar, roll out the Marzipan thinly and cut out sufficient shapes
using the same set of cutters, to cover all the cookies you have made, re-rolling as
necessary. Brush the cookie tops with a little honey and stick the Marzipan shapes
on top.

Roll out and cut out the Regal Ice in the same way, but cut out the centre of 15
cookies using a smaller approx. 4cm (1 ¾ inch) cutter of the same shape – we cut
out the centre from the hearts, trees and stars. Secure the Regal Ice shapes on to
the cookies as above using a little water. If liked, score patterns using a small
bladed knife on top of some of the cookies to add detail. Leave in a dry place for
about an hour to allow the Regal Ice to dry a little before assembling the wreath.

To assemble, place the baked cookie ring on a flat plate or serving board and
spread lightly with glacé icing. Gently press 9 cookies, alternating in design, on the
ring, fitting them snugly together – we used 3 hearts, 3 trees and 3 stars.

For the next layer we used the remaining 2 hearts, 2 trees and 2 stars – spread
the backs with a little more glacé icing and press on top of the first cookie layer.

For the top layer, we stuck 3 holly shaped cookies and 3 bell shaped cookies on
top in the same way. Cover the top loosely with a sheet of baking parchment and
leave for about an hour to dry completely.

Your cookie wreath and remaining cookies are now ready to serve and enjoy!


Tips from the Test Kitchen
Store the cookie wreath in between layers of baking parchment, in an airtight
container for 4-5 days. For longer storage, bake the cookies, leave them to cool
and then place in a freezer container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Once thawed,
marzipan and ice as above.
•
For alternative colour iced cookies: Use a 100g pack Dr. Oetker green Ready to
Roll icing to ice approx. 8 x 8 cm (3 inch) holly leaf shaped cookies.
•
For striped candy cane cookies, divide a 100g pack Dr. Oetker red Ready to Roll
icing into 6 equal portions, and do the same with 100g (3 ½ oz) Dr. Oetker Regal
Ice. Roll each portion of icing into 8cm (3 inch) long, thin sausage shapes. Twist a
red piece of icing with a Regal Ice strip to form a candy striped twist... tip
continued..
•
...Press down gently but evenly on a lightly dusted work surface then roll each
twist of icing thinly to enable you to cut out a candy cane shape from each twist
using a cookie cutter. This method should enable you to cover 6 x 8cm (3 inch) 

 

*Mini Chocolate Gingerbread Loaves*

Makes 6 portions 

Printable Recipe 

The Perfect sweet treat from Dr. Oetker!

For the Mini loaves
100 g Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks' 72% Extra Dark Chocolate (3 ½ oz)
75 g Unsalted Butter (3oz) (1/3 cup)
100 g Dark Brown Sugar (3 ½ oz) (8 TBS)
75 ml Golden Syrup (3oz) (3 fluid ounces corn syrup)
75 g Treacle (75ml, or 3oz) (3 fluid ounces molasses)
100 ml Whole Milk (3 1/2 fl.oz)
225 g Plain Flour (8oz) (1 1/2 cups plus 2 1/2 TBS)
2 tsp Dr. Oetker Baking PowderSachets
2 tsp Ground Ginger
pack Dr. Oetker Surprise Inside
Cupcake Centres Rich Chocolate
(x1 pouch)

To decorate
150 g Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks' White Chocolate (x1 bar) (5 1/2 ounces)
25 g Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks' 72% Extra Dark Chocolate (For the
holly leaves - See tip)

Preheat the oven to 170°C (150°C fan oven, 325°F, gas 3). Grease and line 6 mini
loaf tins. Break up the Extra Dark Chocolate and put in a saucepan with the butter,
sugar, syrup and treacle and place over a very low heat, stirring occasionally, until
melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the milk and leave to cool for 10 minutes.

Sift the flour, Baking Powder and ginger into a bowl and make a well in the centre.
Gradually pour in the melted mixture, carefully mixing together to make a smooth,
thick batter.


Divide the mixture between the tins and bake in the oven for about 35 minutes
until slightly risen and just firm to the touch – a skewer inserted into the centre will
come out clean. Leave to cool for 5 minutes then inject each loaf cake with a
generous amount of Cupcake Centre as directed on the sachet. Leave to cool
completely in the tins, then remove from the tins. Wrap and store for 24 hours to
allow the flavour and sticky texture to develop.


For the chocolate holly leaves, melt 25g (1oz) Dr. Oetker 72% Extra Dark Fine
Cook's Chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water.

Remove from the water and cool for 10 minutes. Line a board or tray with baking
parchment and spoon the melted chocolate into a small uncut piping bag, snip off
the end and pipe different sized holly leaves on the lined board – or trace holly
shapes using a pastry cutter as a template for your piping. In a cool place leave to
set, then peel away from the parchment and leave to one side ready to decorate
your loaf cakes.


To decorate, break up the White Chocolate and put in a heatproof bowl over a
saucepan of barely simmering water. Leave to melt then remove from the water;
stir the chocolate well and leave to cool for 10 minutes.


Carefully spread half the chocolate over the top of each loaf, then put in a cool
place to set. Keep the remaining melted chocolate in the bowl over some hot water
to keep it melted.


Once the first layer of chocolate has set, spoon over the remaining chocolate
allowing it to drip down the sides. Leave to set as before and then decorate with
chocolate holly leaves. Your cakes are now ready to serve and enjoy! If you want
to cut the cakes in half, warm the blade of a sharp knife in hot water, wipe dry and
the knife should slice through the chocolate top with ease.

Tip from the Test Kitchen
Spoon the melted chocolate into a small uncut piping bag, snip off the end and
pipe different sized holly leaves on the lined board – or trace holly shapes using a
pastry cutter as a template for your piping. In a cool place leave to set, then peel
away from the parchment and use to decorate your loaf cakes.

*Christmas Jumper Cookies*

Makes 9
Printable Recipe

A bit of a novelty and sure to please the kiddies, from the people at Dr Oetker!

For the Christmas Jumper Cookies
150 g Unsalted Butter (5oz, very soft) (Scant 2/3 cup)
150 g Caster Sugar (5oz) (3/4 cup)
2 tsp Dr. Oetker Madagascan Vanilla Extract (2 tsp)
250 g Plain Flour (9oz) (1 3/4 cup)
2 1/2 tsp Ground Ginger
2 1/2 tsp ground Mixed Spice
1 3/4 tsp Dr. Oetker Bicarbonate of Soda

To decorate
10 g Icing Sugar (To dust) (3 1/2 tsp)
Dr. Oetker Coloured Ready to RollRegal-Ice (100g pack for: Green,
Blue and Red) (3 1/2 ounces each)
20 ml Honey (4 tsp, clear runny honey)
40 g Dr. Oetker Fine Cooks' Milk Chocolate (1 1/2 oz)
15 g Dr. Oetker Ready Rolled Marzipan  (1/2 oz)
Dr. Oetker White Designer Icing
Dr. Oetker Bright Writing Icings

Preheat the oven to 180˚C (160˚C fan oven, 350˚F, Gas 4). Line 2 large baking
trays with baking parchment. Put the butter and caster sugar in a bowl and beat
until well blended and creamy. Stir in the Vanilla Extract.

Sieve the flour, Bicarbonate of Soda and spices on top. Carefully combine to make
a mixture that resembles a crumble topping and using your hands, bring the
mixture together to form a firm dough. Turn on to a lightly floured surface and
knead gently until smooth and pliable.

Roll out the dough to a thickness of ½ cm (¼ inch). Using an approx. 10cm (4inch)
wide jumper shaped cookie cutter, cut out 9 shapes, re-rolling the dough as
necessary. Arrange on the trays and prick with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes.

Bake the cookies for about 20 minutes until firm and lightly golden round the
edges. Cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate, dust the work surface lightly with icing sugar and knead each Regal
Ice colour in turn until smooth and pliable. Roll out each coloured icing thinly.

Using the same cutter, cut out 3 jumpers from each colour, re-rolling as necessary.
Reserve the red icing trimmings.

Gently roll each icing jumper a little more to make it slightly larger to better fit the
top of the cookies. Brush the cookie tops with honey and stick the icing jumpers on
top. Set aside - if your cookies are for a gift, see note at end of recipe.

Put the Milk Chocolate in a small heatproof bowl and place on top of a saucepan
of barely simmering water. Leave to melt, then remove from the water and leave to
cool for 10 minutes. Spoon all but a teaspoonful of the chocolate into a small uncut
piping bag. Keep the remaining chocolate over hot water to keep it melted.

Working on one jumper at a time, snip a thin piece from the point of the piping bag
using scissors and pipe a reindeer head-shaped pool of chocolate in the middle of
each cookie. Leave in a cool place to set for about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut the Marzipan into 9 equal small portions. Roll each into a thin
sausage approx. 4cm (1 ¾ inch) long. Cut off 2 tiny portions from each to make
eyes and then cut the marzipan lengths in half. Cut small slashes in each of the
lengths using a small sharp knife, opening out the slashes to make spikey antlers.

Once the chocolate heads have set, secure the marzipan antlers on the cookies
using a little water. Secure the reserved marzipan "eyes" in the same way. Form
the reserved red Ready to Roll icing into 9 small noses and secure in place as
above. Use the remaining melted chocolate to paint or pipe the eye detail on the
icing.

Using the star nozzle on the Designer Icing tube, pipe the jumper trim on the neck,
cuffs and hem, and pipe small stars to resemble snowflakes. Use the Writing Icing
colours to add a contrasting coloured trim to the jumpers.

As a finishing touch, pipe small dots using the plain nozzle on the Designer Icing
tube to give a snowy effect. Leave your cookies for a few minutes to dry, and then
your cookies will be ready to serve and enjoy.

For gifting:
Once you have iced your cookies with the coloured Ready to Roll icing, leave
them on a wire rack, lightly covered with greaseproof paper overnight, in a cool,
dry place, so that the icing dries out a little. After decorating, leave them in the
same way for at least 2 hours to dry the icing decoration before you pack them.
Best packed between layers of clean tissue paper or baking parchment to save
damage.

*Winter Forest Chocolate Cake*

Serves 12 to 16

Printable Recipe 

A moist chocolate cake with a fabulous winter forest decoration.

200g Dr Oetker Fine Cooks 72% Extra Dark Chocolate (7 oz)

200g unsalted butter, cut into pieces (14 BS, or 7 ounces)

150g Dark Brown Muscovado Sugar, free of lumps (3/4 cup packed)

50g treacle (1/4 cup molasses)

4 large free range eggs separated

75g plain flour (1/3 cup plus 1/2 TBS)

1 tsp Dr Oetker Baking Powder

150g ground almonds (1 3/4 cup)

To decorate:

175g Dr Oetker Fine Cooks 72% Extra Dark Chocolate

225ml Double cream, room temperature (1 cup thick cream)

150g Dr Oetker Fine Cooks White Chocolate (5 1/2 ounces)

100g unsalted butter, softened (7 TBS)

175g icing sugar, sifted, plus extra to dust (1 1/3 cups)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 179*C/325*F/ gas mark 3.  Grease and line  2 (e inch deep) 7 inch round cake tins.    Break the dark chocolate into pieces and place in a heatproof bowl with butter pieces.  Put the bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, without letting the water touch the bottom of the pan.  Leave to melt.   Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and treacle.  Set aside for 10 minutes. 

Whisk the egg whites iin a clean, grease-free bowl until stiff.  Set aside.

Beat the egg yolks into the lukewarm chocolate mixture.   Sift the flour and baking powder on top and then add the ground almonds.  PIle the whipped egg whites on top and then carefully fold all together until well combines, taking care to retain as much of the voume as possible.   Divide the mixture between the two pans, smoothing the tops.  Place on a baking tray and bake for about 40 minutes, until firm and slightly risen.  A skewer inserted in the centre should come out clean.  Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tins before tipping out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

To decorate, slice each cake horizontally in half, giving you four equal layers.   Break the remaining dark chocolate and  melt as before.  Let cool slightly, ten minutes.   Whilst whisking the chocolate, gradually pour in the cream, whisking until thick and glossy.  Use 1/3 of the chocolate cream to sandwich the 4 layers together, then spread the remaining cream over the sides of the cake, using a palate knife.  Transfer to a serving plate.  Leave in a ool place while you prepare the topping.  

Break the white chocolate into a heat proof bowl and melt as above.   Leave aside to cool for 10 minutets.  meanwhile, put the butter into a bowl and beat until smooth and glossy.   Grdsually sieve and  mix in the icing sugar.to make a firm icing, then mix in the melted chocolate.  Pile the white chocolate icing on top and allow some to spill over the edge of the cake.  Carefully push the chocolate trees into the top and dust with icing sugar to resemble snow.   Your cake is now ready to serve and enjoy.

Note:  Once chilled, the chocolate cream and icing will set firm.  Prolonged chilling of this cake will dry out the texture.

For the chocolate trees:  Break up 150g bar of Dr Oetker Fine Cooks 72% extra dark chocolate into pieces and melt as above.   Allow to cool as before for ten minutes.  LIne a large board with baking parchment.  Using a silicone or plastic spatula, scrape the melted chocolate into the centre of the paper and spread the melted chocolate thinkly to make a 10 by 15 inch rectangle.  Leave in a cool place for about 20 minutes until set.    Fill a shallow dish with hot water.  Using a 4 1/2 inch, a 3 1/4 inch and a 1 3/4 inch Christmas tree cookie cuter, dip the cutters in the hot water, wipe dry and then firmly press through the chocolate to make tree shapes.  If you place them close together you should be able to cut out 4 large, 8 medium and 10 small trees. (DIp the cutters in the hot water and dry each time to enable you to cut through the chocolate.)

Using a palatte knife, carefully slide the blade under the trees to help you peel them away from the paper and tently snap the shapes from the rest of the chocolate sheet.  Keep all the trimmings.   Using a sharp knife, dip the blade in hot water, carefully dry and then slice down the middle of half of the tree shapes to make the sides of the trees.   Melt the chocolate trimmings as above.    Allow to cool for 10 minutes.   Spoon a little chocolate into a small uncut piping bag.  Place the remaining chocolate over hot water to keep it melted.

Working on one tree at a time, snip a thin piece from the piping bag and pipe 2 thin strips down the centre of one of the uncut trees.  Carefully place one of the tree side onto the melted chocolate and hold in place until the chocolate begins to set.  You may need to pipe a bit more along the join to fill in any gaps, this will also help to give you a more secure structure.  Once the side of choclate is free standing, place on a board in a cool place and contiue to secure a side on each of the remaining trees.
 

Suspend a wire rack or an oven shefl so that it is at least 2 inches aove the work surface (we used 4 upturned ramekins).  Lay the trees carefully through the wires so that the flat side is uppermost.  Again working on one tree at a time, refill the piping bag with mroe melted chocolate if necessary and pipe two thin strips down the centre of a tree.  Carefully place a chocolate side on top and hold in place until the chocolate begins to set.  Fill in any gaps as before.  Once the chocolate has set, carefully remove the tree and place back on teh board on it's side whilst you finish the remaining trees.  Once all the trees are set, you can use them to decorate your cake.

 For even more recipes do check out the Dr Oetker Recipe Page. Dr Oetker baking products are available in the baking aisle of most grocery shops in the UK.