The rain has been pretty much constant here all week. The weeds are growing like crazy, but it's far too wet outside to do anything about it. It's raining so hard right now that the sidewalks are like lakes; I went to the end of the block to buy milk at the corner store, and even with an umbrella my legs were soaked through by the time I got home. Needless to say, I've been staying indoors as much as possible.
Tomorrow the canine handlers are having a holiday party. My plan was to bring stollen, but since I don't like citron and a coworker is allergic to almonds, that cuts out the two most significant ingredients. I decided to use some of the fruit from my garden in it instead. I modified the recipe to make it "black forest" stollen by mixing in a pint of sour cherries and a cup of chocolate chips, then mixing a little cocoa powder into the sugar glaze. The main lesson I learned was to start the yeast separately in water before adding the cherry juice; trying to start the yeast directly in the juice just didn't work. Also, I think I could have used fewer chocolate chips, because the chocolate was a bit overpowering, but that's a matter of personal taste.
Black Forest Stollen
2 C frozen cherries, thawed and chopped in half
2/3 C sugar
2 t yeast
1/4 C warm water
1/2 t salt
4 eggs, room temperature
1/2 C butter, softened
1 C chocolate chips
4 C flour
Glaze:
1/2 C powdered sugar
1 T cocoa powder
2 t milk
Makes 2 loaves.
In other news, I see that Disney is producing a movie version of Into the Woods. I may actually have to go to the theater to watch that.
