Winter Baked Apple Stollen with Marzipan Filling and Butter Glaze

Mix flour, dry yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add lukewarm milk, soft butter and egg. Knead with dough hooks or by hand until smooth and elastic. The dough should pull away from the bowl sides but still be slightly sticky.

Place dough in a greased bowl, cover with a damp kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour until doubled in size.

Peel, core and dice apples into small cubes. Heat butter in a pan, add apple cubes, brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Simmer over medium heat for 8-10 minutes until apples are soft but still have some bite. Let cool.

Break or dice marzipan into small pieces. Toast chopped walnuts in a dry pan until fragrant, then cool. Soak raisins in warm water for 10 minutes, then drain.

Roll risen dough on a floured surface into a 30x40cm rectangle. Distribute cooled baked apples, marzipan pieces, toasted walnuts and raisins evenly over dough, leaving a 3cm border.

Roll up tightly from the long side, place seam-side down. Tuck ends under slightly and shape into traditional oval stollen form - press one side slightly flatter.

Place shaped stollen on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cover with kitchen towel and rise for 45 minutes. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan/350°F).

Bake in preheated oven for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and hollow-sounding when tapped. Cover with foil if browning too quickly.

While stollen bakes, sift powdered sugar and whisk with melted butter, milk, orange zest and a pinch of cinnamon until smooth. Consistency should be thick but spreadable.

Remove hot stollen from oven and cool for 10 minutes. Spread glaze evenly over warm stollen. Cool completely before slicing.