Put the dried fruit in a bowl with the brandy, rum or orange juice, cover with cling film and microwave on High for 1 min. Set aside to cool while you make the dough. Alternatively, soak the fruit ahead of time, drain and keep in the fridge until ready to use, as I did.

Pour the milk and honey into a pan and heat until they just come to the boil, then remove from the heat, add the butter and set aside to cool a little, swirling now and then to melt the butter.

Meanwhile, mix the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Then add the yeast and spices (you need to separate the salt from the yeast in this way, as salt ‘kills’ yeast when it comes into direct contact).

When the milk has cooled to luke-warm, pour into the flour bowl. Add the egg and zests, and mix together with a spoon, then with your hands, until the mixture comes together as a dough. As it’s an enriched dough, it’s meant to be quite sticky, so don’t be tempted to add more flour unless absolutely necessary.

Tip dough out onto your lightly floured work surface and knead (press down on the dough with the heel of your palms, pushing it away from you. Fold the dough back toward yourself, give it a quarter-turn, and repeat) for 10-15 mins (enriched dough generally takes longer to knead) or until smooth and elastic – you’ll find the dough very sticky to start with; just keep kneading it and gathering it up from the work surface and in a few minutes it will miraculously sart coming together, eventually becoming smooth and elastic, even though it will remain tacky. For tips on knowing how long to knead your dough for, see my notes below*.

Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly greased bowl and turn it over so the top of the dough is lightly coated with oil (this helps keep it moist). Cover the bowl lightly with greased cling film and leave to rise at room temperature, but out of any drafts, for 2 hrs or until roughly doubled in size. For tips on knowing when your dough has risen properly, see my notes below**. You can put the dough in the fridge for up to 2 days at this point; just bring back to room temperature before continuing.

When the dough has proved, gently press your fingers into the dough, knocking out the air bubbles. Tip out onto the work surface and flatten it out with your hands. Add the fruit over the dough evenly, then knead it gently just until the fruit is incorporated.

Roll the dough into a square, roughly 40 x 40cm, then cut into 3 long strips. Break the marzipan into 3 balls, then roll each to the same length as the strips of dough. Put 1 marzipan sausage on top of each strip of dough, then pinch the sides of the dough together to encase the marzipan – so you have 3 long sausages of marzipan-filled dough. Place them, side by side, seam side down, on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Pinch the 3 ends together at one end and then tightly plait the dough, pinching together to seal when you finish. Tuck each end under for a neat finish. Cover loosely with a sheet of oiled cling film, leave to rise again for 30 mins-1 hr, or until roughly doubled in size.

Heat oven to 190C (374F). Uncover the plait, brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle over the almonds. Bake on the middle shelf of the oven for 30-35 mins until deep golden brown (you will likely need to lay some foil over top about 10-15 minutes in, as it browns quite quickly). For tips on knowing when the bread is baked, see my notes below***.

Transfer to a wire rack (I used a large cake spatula to lift it). You can now either leave it and dust it with icing sugar when it’s cool, or you can immediately brush the hot bread with some melted butter and dust with icing sugar – this will adhere the icing sugar to the surface and let it soak in. Then, let it cool completely and when ready to serve, dust liberally with more icing sugar as the original dusting will have disappeared. The stollen will keep for up to 5 days and, in fact, improves in flavour – just wrap it in wax paper or cling film and store it in a cool place. You may need to dust more icing sugar on it over time to keep it looking as though fresh snow has fallen on it. Serve it with lashings of fresh butter.