Stollen

Put cardamom pods in a bowl and add hot milk. Let stand for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, combine dried cherries and raisins and add the rum. Let stand.

Combine yeast, warm water and 1 teaspoon of sugar in another bowl and set aside until mixture foams (roughly 10 minutes).

Remove cardamom pods from milk and squeeze each softened pod open until black seeds come out. Scrape seeds into the milk. Discard the pods. In large bowl, stir yeast into the milk mixture. Add 1 cup flour and beat well. Cover the mixture (called “sponge”) with plastic wrap and let rise for 30 minutes.

Place 2 cups of flour and butter in a food processor (or use pastry cutter) and pulse until combined. Add salt and remaining sugar and pulse a bit more. Drain fruits, reserving liquid. When sponge is ready, add it to the flour/butter mixture. Add lemon zest, eggs and the soaking liquid from fruits. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Now, add fruit, toasted almonds and remaining 1/2 cup flour and mix. Scrape dough into a large, oiled bowl and set aside. At this point you can refrigerate the dough overnight or, as I did, let rise for four or five hours.

After dough has risen, punch down and divide in half. On a heavily floured surface, gently pull dough into a large, oval shape (each of mine were a bit bigger than a sheet of paper). Divide almond paste in half and dot half of the oval, the long way, with pieces of almond paste. Fold other half of dough over the almond paste and gently close seams. Repeat with second piece of dough.

Transfer to silpat or parchment paper and let rise until dough is puffy or nearly doubled in size (roughly one hour). Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer to wire rack to cool.

Before end of baking time, begin browning the 1/2 cup of butter. Put 1/2 cup of butter in a saucepan over medium heat; when butter melts, lower heat and cook until browned (roughly 8 minutes). Once dough has cooled a bit on racks, pour browned butter over top of loaves. After butter has soaked in a bit, generously sift powdered sugar over top.

Let cool (roughly 10-20 minutes, depending on self-control) and cut into thin slices and serve warm, making sure to lick your fruity, buttery and sugary fingertips afterward.