Dresdner Christmas Stollen (Former Gdr) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 kg flour
100 g clarified butter
100 g suet, rasped (firm, but at room temp)
800 g margarine, unsalted
850 g sultanas
150 g blanched almonds, ground
65 g bitter almonds (ground)
100 g candied lemon peel
1 lemon, zest of
330 g sugar
1/2 liter warm milk
150 g fresh yeast
20 g salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
400 g butter
125 g powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla sugar

Preparation

All ingredients need to be at room temperature.
Sift flour into a very large bowl, make a well in the middle, keep 1 c flour.
Mix 2/3 of the handwarm milk with the yeast and add a bit of sugar.
Pour into the flour well.
Cover with a damp towel and let rise at a warm, draft-free location for 20 minutes or the yeast foams up.
In the meantime, mix remaining ingredients (except the last 3).
Knead the yeast and flour into a dough.
Add the yeast dough to the fruit-date mix and knead, until the dough doesn't stick to the hands any more (you might need extra flour, but not too much).
Let rest at a warm location for a minimum of 2 hours, but not too warm, for the fat not to \"sweat out\".
Divide dough into 2 equal parts, knead again and form into oval shapes.
Press down a wooden stick lengthwise the shape, marking the oval into a 2/3 wide part and a 1/3 wide part (don't separate the 2 parts!).
Flip 1/3 part over the depression onto the 2/3 wide part, so it looks like a long turnover, with the rims not meeting, but the top rim being some way over the middle.
Preheat oven to about 375\u00b0F.
Let Stollen rest on baking sheet and rise for 30 minutes.
Bake for about 1 hour at 370\u00b0F.
Tap the top and if it sounds hollow, take the Stollen out immediately.
Brush with butter and powder very generously with sugar mix.
After cooling completely, wrap tightly with Saran wrap and let sit in a cool, dark place for 1 week.
Powder with sugar a second time before serving.
To serve, cut in 1/2-inch slices.
Do not add too much sugar, as it will spread the Stollen too flat.
This is a very work-intensive recipe and not suitable for an unexperienced baker.