A Christmas stollen

Like the majority of bread recipes, this looks more frightening than it actually is. You basically make a bread dough with a bit of butter and egg in it, knead it for a while, then leave it alone to do its thing. Later you smother it with dried fruit and marzipan, roll it up and let it rest, then bake it. Despite its length, the recipe really couldn't be simpler, but because of its richness the dough is slower rising, so give yourself plenty of time.

100g butter
500g plain flour
40g fresh yeast
225ml warm milk
40g sugar
salt
a large egg
for the filling: 6 green cardamoms
50g undyed glace cherries
100g mixed peel
110g sultanas
½ tsp ground cinnamon
50g flaked almonds
200g marzipan
for the glaze: 50g butter
icing sugar

Melt the butter in a small pan, then leave to cool down. Sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl. Crumble in the yeast then stir in the milk, sugar, salt, cooled but still soft butter and the beaten egg. Mix thoroughly - the dough should be soft, shiny and rather sticky. Turn out on to a lightly floured board. As you knead, the dough will become less and less sticky and more like a bread dough - though it will be heavier because of the butter and egg. When the dough is soft, elastic and no longer sticking to the board, scoop it up and put it into a floured bowl. Set aside, covered with a clean tea towel for a good hour.

Break the cardamom pods and remove their black seeds. Crush the seeds to a coarse powder using a pestle and mortar or a spice mill. Mix the cherries, mixed peel, sultanas, cinnamon and almonds together. Dust the work surface with flour and tip your risen dough on to it. Cut the dough in half, then flatten each piece out into a rectangle about 22cm x 16cm. Cover each with half of the filling, then break off pieces of the marzipan and scatter them over the fruit. Now place the longest side of each one towards you and roll the two doughs up to form loose loaf shapes. Lift on to a floured baking sheet, cover with a towel and return to a warm place to prove for a further hour and a half.

Heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Place the loaves in the hot oven and bake for about 35-40 minutes until pale gold. Melt the butter for the glaze and brush over the loaves. Cool on a wire rack, then dust with icing sugar. I think you can be quite generous here.

To keep: when the loaves are thoroughly cool, wrap loosely in waxed paper or clingfilm and keep in a biscuit tin.

Ring the changes with chopped dried apricots, dried cranberries or even chopped and stoned prunes.

You can freeze a baked Christmas stollen quite successfully.