1. The evening before, add the raisins and rum to a small container, mix well and cover. Let sit at room temperature overnight.

2. The next day, mix the lukewarm milk with the fresh yeast in the bowl of a food processor until the yeast has dissolved completely. Add the sugar and vanilla extract and mix well. Add both flour types, ground cinnamon, cardamom, salt, eggs, and butter, and knead everything with the dough hook of the food processor for about 7-8 minutes until you get a nice and smooth dough. Mix the rum raisins with candied orange peel and sliced almonds and add to the bowl – knead/fold in. This works best by hand, as the food processor usually just pushes everything back and forth instead of kneading it properly ;) Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a clean bowl, cover it, and let rise in a warm place for about 60 minutes – the dough should look almost twice as big at the end.

3. In the meantime, roll out the marzipan – each piece into a rectangle of about 9×7 inches. Works best on a smooth, cool surface with some confectioners’ sugar. Set aside until needed.

4. Roll out the stollen dough on a lightly floured surface into a rectangle with a size of about 15.7×9.8 inches. Place the two marzipan rectangles on the dough so that they touch in the middle, then roll up from both (shorter) sides towards the center. One of the rolls created should be slightly larger than the other – this will give the typical Stollen shape. Press them together and place the stollen on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for another 30 minutes.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Place the baking sheet in the middle of the oven and bake the stollen for about 45-50 minutes. If it gets a little dark towards the end of the baking time, cover it with a piece of baking parchment and continue baking. If you want to be on the safe side, test the stollen with a wooden skewer at the end of the baking time.

6. While the stollen is still in the oven, melt the butter for the “finishing touch”. Remove the baked stollen from the oven and immediately brush it with the melted butter. Dust with a thin layer of confectioners’ sugar, then brush with more butter and again confectioners’ sugar – this time a bit more. Let cool down completely.

7. Place the cooled stollen on a large piece of aluminum foil, dust with more confectioners’ sugar – this time much more – and wrap it tightly. Place in a plastic bag or airtight container and let rest for at least 1-2 weeks. Dust with even more confectioners’ sugar before cutting. “The more the merrier” or “more is more” is the goal here ;P