Stollen
Contains allergens
- Author
- Equipo Cocinoa
- Preparation time
- 4 hr
- Servings
- 12
Summary
A medium-difficulty recipe for 12 servings. It takes about 4 hours to make. It is vegetarian.
The Christmas bread of Dresden: a buttery dough studded with rum-soaked raisins, candied peel and almonds around a log of marzipan, brushed with butter and buried in icing sugar. It is baked weeks ahead so it can mature.
Ingredients
- 400 g Wheat flour (strong bread flour)
- 150 ml Milk (lukewarm)
- 175 g Butter (softened, 125 g for the dough and 50 g melted for brushing)
- 1 u Egg (at room temperature)
- 75 g Almonds (blanched, roughly chopped)
- 1 u Lemon (zest only)
- 0.5 teaspoons Salt
- 90 g Sugar (60 g for the dough and 30 g for coating)
- 0.5 teaspoons Cinnamon (ground)
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 80 g Icing Sugar (for coating)
- 0.5 teaspoons Cardamom (ground)
- 21 g Yeast (fresh (or 7 g dried yeast))
- 200 g Raisins (sultanas)
- 1 pinch Nutmeg (freshly grated)
- 150 g Marzipan (optional)
- 60 ml Dark Rum
- 80 g Candied Peel (orange and lemon, finely diced)
Instructions
The night before, mix the raisins and candied peel with the rum in a bowl, cover and leave to soak overnight at room temperature, stirring now and then if you can.
Make the starter: crumble the yeast into the lukewarm milk with a teaspoon of the sugar and mix with 100 g of the flour to a thick paste. Cover and leave somewhere warm until it is full of bubbles and well risen.
25 min
Put the rest of the flour and the dough sugar, the salt, spices, lemon zest and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the starter, the egg and the 125 g of soft butter in pieces and knead, by hand or in a stand mixer, until the dough is smooth, elastic and comes away from the bowl. It will be firm and rich rather than sticky.
12 min
Shape it into a ball, cover and leave somewhere warm until it is visibly puffy. With so much butter it rises slowly and will not double in size.
60 min
Drain the fruit thoroughly and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Flatten the dough, scatter over the fruit and almonds and fold the dough over itself several times, pressing gently, until they are evenly spread without tearing the dough. Cover and leave to rest for 15 minutes.
20 min
Roll the dough into an oval about 30 × 20 cm and 2 cm thick. If using marzipan, knead it briefly and roll it into a log slightly shorter than the oval. Lay it lengthways, a little off centre, and fold the dough over it so the top edge stops short of the bottom one, leaving a step. Press a groove alongside the fold with the edge of the rolling pin to give it the classic humped shape.
10 min
Transfer it to a tray lined with baking paper, pick off any raisins showing on the outside and push in the ones you can. Cover and leave to rise somewhere warm while you heat the oven to 170 °C conventional (155 °C fan).
40 min
Bake on the middle shelf until deep golden and the base sounds hollow when tapped; if you have a thermometer, the centre should read about 95 °C. If it browns too quickly, cover it loosely with foil halfway through.
55 min
As soon as it comes out, brush it all over with the melted butter in two or three rounds, letting it soak in between. Sprinkle with the 30 g of sugar while still hot and leave to cool completely on a wire rack.
10 min
Once cold, sift the icing sugar over it in a thick layer, pressing it on with your hand so it sticks to the sides too. Wrap it tightly in cling film and then foil and leave it to mature somewhere cool for one to three weeks. Before serving, top up the icing sugar and cut thin slices from the middle; when you put it away, push the two halves together so the crumb does not dry out.
Notes
Christstollen is Germany's Christmas bake above all others and is closely tied to Dresden, where it has been sold at the Advent markets for centuries. It is first cut during Advent or on Christmas Eve and eaten in thin slices with coffee or tea throughout the holidays. Ideally, bake it one to three weeks before you serve it: well wrapped, the moisture from the fruit spreads through the crumb and the flavour mellows. Plan: soak the fruit the night before, knead and bake the next day, and once it is cold coat it in icing sugar, wrap it in cling film and foil and keep it somewhere cool (not the fridge). That way it lasts four to six weeks; once cut, cover the cut face with cling film. It also freezes well, whole or halved, for up to three months. The marzipan is optional: without it you have the classic fruit Stollen. This is a heavy dough that rises slowly, so don't expect it to double in size. Pick off any raisins poking out of the surface before baking, as they burn and turn bitter. If you'd rather avoid alcohol, soak the fruit in orange juice, though it will then keep for less time. It makes about 20 slices.
More information
Guide indicatorsDifficulty, quality and data reliability
Guide indicators
- Estimated difficulty99/100
- Recipe completeness65/100
- Nutrition reliability
- Medium
Calculated automatically from the ingredients, steps, time and community feedback. They are not a guarantee.
StorageKeeps 4 days in the fridge
Frequently asked questions
- How long does Stollen take to make?
- It takes about 4 hours in total.
- Which allergens does Stollen contain?
- It contains cereals containing gluten, milk, eggs, tree nuts and sulphites. Always check the labels of the products you use.
- How long does Stollen keep in the fridge?
- Up to 4 days in the fridge, in a closed container. It can also be frozen.
- Which diets is this recipe suitable for?
- It is vegetarian.
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