Dutch Christmas Bread | The Goldfinch
“Lifting the tops of the trays with a flourish. ‘Special Dutch Christmas bread,’ he said, pointing it out ironically. ‘Just for today.’ I’d ordered the ‘Festive Champagne Breakfast’ which included a split of champagne, truffled eggs and caviar, a fruit salad, a plate of smoked salmon, a slab of pate, and half a dozen dishes of sauce, cornichons, capers, condiments, and pickled onions."
Lifting the tops of the trays with a flourish. ‘Special Dutch Christmas bread,’ he said, pointing it out ironically. ‘Just for today.’ I’d ordered the ‘Festive Champagne Breakfast’ which included a split of champagne, truffled eggs and caviar, a fruit salad, a plate of smoked salmon, a slab of pate, and half a dozen dishes of sauce, cornichons, capers, condiments, and pickled onions.
The Goldfinch
Donna Tartt
The Goldfinch is really an incredible book - it draws you into the narrative of the main character in a way that shouldn’t be so fascinating, but is. The author, Donna Tartt, entices you deeply into the life of the titular character Theo and his struggles with the direction his life takes.
Another great thing about The Goldfinch is the absolute smorgasbord of food that Theo partakes in throughout the pages of the novel. Form western omelettes and home fries to caviar, fruit salad and smoked salmon pate. With so many choices it became increasingly difficult to narrow down what I would make from it (though I am sure that more from it’s pages will appear on this blog at some point in time). I ended up deciding on Dutch Christmas bread, a component of the delightfully indulgent breakfast that Theo orders on what he believed may be his last free day.
Also, because I wanted to know what Dutch Christmas bread was. A little bit of googling later and I came across the delicious looking Kerststol - a Dutch version of the more well known German stollen. A yeast-based bread filled with rum soaked fruits and nuts with pockets of marzipan or almond paste hidden within. I combined a few recipes online to come up with a vegan version that worked well - my first batch turned into a rock hard mess, but the second came out light, fluffy and deliciously warm.
Dutch Christmas Bread
Ingredients
Dough
1 1/2 cups of plain flour + 1 cup (you may need a little extra if the dough is too sticky etc)
1/2 cup milk
3 tbsp melted coconut oil
2 tsp active yeast
3 1/2 tbsp white sugar
2 tbsp water - warm
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cardamon
1/4 tsp ground gloves
1 tsp vanilla
Icing sugar - for decorating
Fruit Filling
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup dried apricots
3 tbsp dark rum
Zest of one orange
Almond Paste
1 cup almond meal
1 cup icing sugar
1 tsp maple syrup
3 tbsp cold water
1 tsp almond extract
Rough chop the dried apricots, walnuts and sultanas, combine with the zest and cover it all with the dark rum. Put it all in a sealable container and give it a good shake to make sure they’re all covered - these need to sit in the fridge for at least one night.
The almond paste should also, ideally, be made the day before. Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until they all come together as a soft ball. You may need to add a little more powdered sugar if necessary. Wrap it up tightly in cling wrap and refrigerate.
Combine the active yeast, warm water and 1/2 tbsp of sugar in a mixing bowl. Leave for about ten minutes - until it goes quite frothy.
Add in 3/4 cup of plain flour to the yeast mixture, along with the remaining sugar, milk and oil.
Separately mix together 3/4 cup plain flour, all the spices, vanilla, salt and the soaked nuts and dried fruits (make sure you pat the excess liquid off these, otherwise they can make the dough too soggy).
Combine both mixes together and knead for 5 - 8 minutes, adding in additional flour if the dough feels too sticky. It shouldn’t be too dry - and should be able to be rolled into a ball easily.
Place the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean cloth - leave in a warm place to rise for around two hours.
Once the dough has doubled in size, place it back onto a lightly floured surface and give it a quick knead before pressing down into a rough rectangular shape - around 5cms thick.
Place chunks of the refrigerated almond paste over the dough - depending how much you want in there. Roll up the dough tightly from the side and press the seams together.
Place into an oiled bread tin and cover again, leaving to rise for another two hours.
Preheat oven to 170C.
Once the dough has doubled in size, bake it for around 30-40 minutes - checking to see if it’s done by how hollow the top sounds when tapping it.
Leave to cool for about 10 minutes, and decorated with a liberal sprinkle of icing sugar on top. Enjoy!