This German Christmas bread is vegan and fairly easy to make. Made with fresh orange, lemon and homemade marzipan, this Christmas pastry can not be missed during the Advent season.
If made a few days in advance of serving it mellows and softens and is super delicious. However if you're anything like me and don't want to wait, it's also very good the next day already.
Soak raisins overnight. Alternatively cook them in a pot of water for 30 minutes. Then drain.
If necessary (e.g. straight out of the fridge), warm up milk in a small pot.
In a large bowl, prepare the yeast sponge by combining 1 cup of the flour with the yeast, sugar and milk. Set aside.
In another bowl, mix together remaining flour, almond flour, 7 tbsp margarine, zest and juice of orange and lemon, rum, gingerbread spice and salt.
Add this dough to the yeast sponge and knead well with dough hooks or with your hands. Finally fold in raisins, if using, and knead once more.
Cover the bowl and allow dough to rise for at least one hour or until the dough has increased in size visibly.
Preheat the oven to 350° F, circulating air (180° C).
On a floured countertop, knead dough with your hands once more and roll into a rectangle.
Roll marzipan into a long sausage and place in the lower half of the dough. Fold bread by pulling up dough over the marzipan and pressing it together on the other side.
Bake at 350° F (180° C) for 15 minutes. Then lower temperature to 320° F (160° C) and bake for another 45 minutes.
Once ready (..:) take the bread out of the oven. Brush warm loaf with margarine and generously dust with icing sugar.
After cooling completely, wrap tightly in foil or wrap in a kitchen towel and place in a tin box for a few days to ripen.
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