Stollen advice...

Howdy,
I tried my first stollen this weekend, as a practice run for baking holiday gifts for friends/family...things went pretty well overall (good recipe, tasty bread, tweaked it a little by adding dried cherries instead of candied), but I need a couple of pointers:

1. I think the dough may have been a little too moist still (not enough flour), but I'm not sure...any good ways to gauge this, while still in the mixing bowl?

2. I also tweaked the recipe by adding marzipan to the middle when I was shaping the loaves. However, when the pan went into the over after the second proof, the loaves rose quite a bit and the "seam" split open, exposing the marzipan. Any ideas on how to avoid this next time around?

I'll try to post the recipe later, since I know that helps, but I don't have it with me now...

Many thanks in advance,

Micki

Thanks, and here's my recipe...

Thanks, Mudbug and Qahtan, for your replies...here's the recipe I followed:

"Dresdener Stollen

For the fruit:
1/4 c dark raisins
1/4 c dried currants (I used finely chopped dried apricots)
1/2 c mixed candied citrus peel
1/4 c candied cherries (I used dried cherry/berry mix instead)
1/8 c golden raisins
1/4 c rum
1 tbsp bread flour

Combine the first 5 ingredients in a small bowl and pour rum over. Let soak for 1 hour. Drain fruit, reserving rum, and pat dry w/paper towels. Toss fruit w/1 tbsp bread flour & set aside.

For the Sponge:
1 3/4 tsp instant yeast
1/2 c + 2 tbsp whole milk
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp almond extract
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 c bread flour

Combine milk and 2 tbsp sugar in a saucepan. Heat to lukewarm, stirring constantly until sugar has dissolved. Off the heat, stir in almond extract and lemon zest. Cool to 110F. Combine yeast and flour; add to milk mixture and stir briefly to form a thick batter. Cover and let rest at room temp. for about 30 minutes or until bubbles form.

For the Dough:
Reserved rum drained from the fruits
1 large egg
1 3/4 cups APF
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1/2 c blanched & slivered almonds

Add 1 1/4 cups of the flour, the salt and t tbsp sugar to the yeast mixture and mix on low speed with dough hook. Whisk egg until frothy and add to mixer. Add reserved rum as well. As dough mixes, add the butter, bit by bit and mix until combined. Add just enough of the remaining 1/2 cup of flour as needed for the dough to come together (I added about half of the additional flour at this point). Continue mixing until it is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes, working in any remaining flour as needed. Add the fruit and nuts into the dough as you mix it a little more, adding about 1/3 cup at a time (I used up the remaining flour at this point). Use 1 tbsp of the melted butter to coat a large mixing bowl. Place the dough in it and turn to coat all sides with the butter. Cover with plastic and place in a warm space to rise until doubled in size, about 90 minutes.

Punch down dough and let rest on floured surface, covered, for about 10 min. Roll into a 12"x8" strip that is about 1/2" thick. Sprinkle the surface with 2 tbsp sugar (I added marzipan down the middle here). Then fold lengthwise by bringing one long side over to the center of the strip and pressing down gently. Then take the other side and fold it toward the center, overlapping the other edge almost entirely. Press gently to adhere. Taper the ends of the loaf slightly, and press the long sides gently to make it a little skinnier. The whole stollen should be about 3 1/2-4" wide by 13" long at this point.

Place the stollen on a sheet pan lined with buttered parchment, seam side up, and brush with melted butter. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour. Bake in a preheated 375F oven in the middle rack for 45 minutes or until golden. Check the stollen about halfway through baking to make sure the bottom of the loaf isn't getting too dark. Double-pan if necessary. If top starts to get too brown before the loaf is done, tent with aluminum foil. Cool on wire racks. Brush with more butter and dust with powdered sugar."

I'm in the SF Bay Area, and it's been extraordinarily cold and dry here, so humidity was not an issue.

Any further thoughts would be appreciated...

Cheers,

Micki