1/4teaspoonalmond extract - or - 1/2 vanilla extract
Instructions
Filling:
Strain pie filling in a colander with fairly large holes. Gently shake colander from side to side to remove as much of the thick syrup, so that mainly the fruit remains. Lightly chop berries to make a very chunky paste.
Roll 1/2 Sweet Roll Dough into rectangle, 15x9 inches, on a lightly floured surface. Spread blueberries over dough leaving 1 inch clear of edge of dough; dot with butter. Roll up tightly, beginning at 15-inch side. Pinch edge of dough to seal well. Gently stretch roll to make even.
Shape into a ring on a parchment lined baking sheet, seam side down (if not using parchment paper, butter baking sheet). Pinch ends together to seal the ring. With scissors, make cuts 2/3 of the way through the ring at 1 inch intervals. Gently separate the sections just a little. Let rise until double, about 40 minutes.
Heat oven to 375° (if using sliced almonds, this is a good time to toast them while waiting for pastry to rise). Optional egg wash: Just before baking, whisk 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of cream together (milk or water can also be used). Using a pastry brush, gently brush the stollen with the egg wash to give the finished pastry a shiny, golden appearance.
Bake stollen until golden brown, 20-25 minutes. Check after 15 minutes of baking; if ring browns too quickly, cover loosely with foil while it finishes baking.
Remove from baking sheet onto wire rack to cool. Once cooled, glaze and sprinkle with sliced toasted almonds, if desired.
Glaze:
Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon milk and 1/4 almond extract until glaze is smooth. Place in a Ziploc® bag and press down to a bottom corner. Snip the corner when you are ready to glaze and simply squeeze desired amount of glaze onto the ring.
Store loosely wrapped in aluminum foil or in a storage container with the lid slightly askew.
Notes
Nutritional info does not include dough recipe.The More Fruit pie filling is important here because regular pie filling will have too much of the thick syrup, leaving too little fruit for this application.