Cake no more

I'm over traditional fruit cake. This year, I'm making an Austrian stollen that's redolent of Christmas.

Christmas is not as far off as I thought, so I have begun planning my festive menus. From the luxury of simple suppers for two through to a potentially stressful family feast for 12 that will include a couple of meatless dishes, I want to be sure of what I will be doing, ideally with something left over for Boxing Day.

I regret to say I am fast getting over the traditional Christmas fruitcake. It’s not the cake itself I am tired of, but rather the fake almond icing that all too frequently wraps it in an thick blanket of white paste that doesn’t even taste remotely of almonds.

This year my Christmas baking will include stollen, a 15th-century European cake that is to the Austrians what panettone is to the Italians. This slightly sweetened yeast dough is enriched with citrus peel, almonds and marzipan. And when you add cinnamon, you get a wonderfully festive cake that smells like Christmas. It’s a recipe for those who love to bake. I prefer to use fresh yeast when making bread, but you can substitute dried granules. Use half the quantity of dried to fresh, and allow that one tablespoon of dried yeast will leaven 1kg of flour. Always dissolve dried yeast in warm water first – fresh yeast can be added directly to the flour.

Christmas Stollen

100g unsalted butter

icing sugar – you will need a lot

First, make the bread. Melt the butter and leave to cool. Sieve the flour into the bowl of an electric mixer and crumble in the fresh yeast. Using the dough-hook attachment, gently mix in the milk, sugar, egg, salt and butter. Work the dough until it is soft and shiny. (It will look rather wet, but this is okay.) Turn the dough onto a lightly floured board and continue to knead by hand until the dough becomes less tacky and no longer sticks to the board.

Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover with a tea towel and set aside in a warm place to prove for an hour. In a bowl, combine the cherries, peel, sultanas, cinnamon, almonds and lemon zest. Dust the board with flour again, tip the dough onto it and cut it in half using the side of your hand. Flatten each piece into a rectangle about 20cm x 15cm and cover them with the filling mixture. Roughly chop the marzipan and scatter it over the fruit. Then, with the longest edge in front of you, roll up the halves to form loose loaf shapes. Gently lift onto floured baking sheets, cover with tea towels and leave in a warm place to prove for 90 minutes.

Heat the oven to 180°C. Slide the baking sheets into the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes until the stollens are a rich golden colour. Remove from the oven to a wire rack. Melt the butter and brush it liberally over the loaves. Once they’ve cooled, generously dredge with icing sugar. Cover the loaves in plastic wrap and store in the pantry. They also freeze well.

I have to thank Andreas Lindberg, the chef at Waiheke Island’s Mudbrick Restaurant, for the idea of adding cinnamon to carrot purée. It tempers the carrots’ sweetness, lifting the aromatic vegetable into a delectable accompaniment to an earthily spiced, slowly roasted leg of lamb.

Roast Leg of Lamb with Carrot and Cinnamon Purée

2 garlic cloves

1 leg of lamb, about 2.5kg

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Peel and crush the garlic cloves with the salt in a bowl. Mix in the spices, then stir in the oil to make a thick paste. Put the lamb into a deep roasting dish, rub the spice paste all over it, pour in 2 cups of water and roast for 30 minutes. Baste the leg with the juices and roast for a further 3 hours, basting every hour. Add more water if it begins to evaporate too quickly. Remove the pan from the oven and pour off the thin layer of oil that will be sitting on top of the cooking juices. Cover the pan with tinfoil and leave it to rest for 10 minutes before carving and serving with the carrot purée. Spoon the pan juices over the lamb.

Serves 6.

Carrot and Cinnamon Purée

450g carrots

salt and pepper

Peel the carrots and slice into 1cm-thick rounds. Place in a saucepan with the stock, butter and cinnamon. Bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cook until tender – about 20 minutes. Remove the cinnamon and tip the carrots into a food processor. Season with salt and pepper and process until smooth. Serve in a bowl.

Serves 6.

You can use virtually any vege­tables you like in this dish.

A Paella to satisfy a vegetarian

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or paella pan. Finely chop the onion, then gently fry for 5 minutes until fragrant. Seed the capsicums, cut into strips, add to the pan and cook over a medium heat until golden brown. Chop the garlic finely, then add to the pan with the bay leaf, paprika and cayenne. Cook for a couple of minutes then add the rice. Over a low heat cook the rice for 2-3 minutes, gently tossing it through the vegetables. Add the sherry and saffron threads, then simmer for a minute or two before adding the stock. Reduce the heat and continue cooking until the stock has been absorbed by the rice – about 20 minutes – then turn off the heat. Cut the tomatoes into thick chunks and scatter over the top of the rice. Cut the zucchini into long strips and add to the pan, with the broad beans and peas. Cover the pan with a lid and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Then remove the lid, add the olives and parsley and gently toss everything together. Serve with thick wedges of lemon on the side.

Serves 4.