Gloverly Cupcakes

It’s always fun to try new recipes of traditional things that people have reinvented. So when I was looking through my Christmas Olive magazine and came across a gluten free baking section I was very excited to see a recipe for Stollen bars. My husband’s family love Stollen – they spent several years living in Germany where Stollen originated. This recipe is amazing and well worth baking this Christmas. Click 

The trickest part of this recipe was spreading out the base in the cake tin – using a pallet knife made it easier, but it was quite sticky and didn’t want to spread properly.

350g Cherry jam
1 tbsp Cornflour
1-2 tbsp Icing Sugar

Base:
1 egg yolk
100g Salted butter, softened
100g Gluten free plain flour
100g Caster sugar
50g Toasted flaked almonds
50g Gluten free hobnobs
1 tsp Xantham gum

Stollen Topping:
100g Golden caster sugar
100g Butter, softened
1 tsp Almond extract
2 Egg whites
50g Ground almonds
150g Gluten free plain flour
100g Full fat soft cream cheese
1/2 tsp Mixed Spice
1 Orange, zest and juice
1 Lemon, zest and juice
100g Dried sour cherries
25g Mixed peel
50g Toasted flakes almonds
50g Shelled pistachios
125g Marzipan, finely diced

Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6 and line a 22cm square tin with baking paper.
For the base, put all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to a smoothish mix. Press evenly into the base of the tin, then bake for 15 mins until golden. Leave to cool while you prepare the rest, but leave the oven turned on.
Sieve the fruit chunks out of the cherry jam (it helps if you warm it), then stir through the cornflour and spread over the cooling base. Put in the fridge to chill while you make the Stollen top.
Beat the caster sugar, soft butter, Almond extract, egg whites, ground almonds, flour, soft cheese, mixed spice and citrus zests together to make a smooth batter.
Stir the lemon and orange juices together and add 2 tbsp into the batter mix, reserve the rest.
Stir in the dried cherries, mixed peel, half the flaked almonds, pistachios and marzipan cubes.
Dollop into the tin starting from around the edge, then gently spread to cover without disturbing the jam too much. Scatter over the remaining flaked almonds.
Bake the Stollen for 30-40 mins until golden and firm on top.
While the bake is still warm, brush the remaining citrus juice over the top. Dust heavily with icing sugar and leave to cool completely. Cut into bars to serve.

The recipe was worth the effort and tastes as good as it sounds! Perfect to eat in front of the fire with a cup of tea in the afternoon.