Stollen – German Christmas sweet bread
Stollen is a sweet German bread, traditionally served during Christmas. It is incredibly aromatic, and moist, it practically melts in your mouth. This sweet bread cannot be complete without a large amount of candied fruit, raisins, almonds and marzipan. Sweet cakes and breads with raisins are an essential element of Christmas in many countries. What is Christmas pudding in England, kutia and buns in Poland, panettone in Italy, is Stollen in Germany. Preparing this sweet bread takes a lot of time, as befits yeast pastries, but the result is worth it because the taste of this bread is delicious. I encourage you to check for the following recipe for stollen, and please enjoy.
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Ingredients for stollen.
- 350 bread flour + extra
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 300 g marzipan
- 7 g instant yeast
- 50 g blanched almonds
- 100 g candied cherries
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground star anise
- 80 g soft butter
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground cloves
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 100 g candied fruit peel
- 300 ml apple juice
- 100 g raisins
- 1 medium egg
- 1/2 teaspoon of grated lemon zest
- 140 g lukewarm milk
- a pinch of salt
Additionally:
- 50 g powdered sugar
- 1 egg
- 30 g melted butter
How to make stollen.
Pour lukewarm milk into a bowl, add a spoonful of powdered sugar and instant yeast. Mix and set aside for 10 minutes.
Pour raisins into a bowl, pour boiling apple juice over them and leave it aside for an hour. After that, pour into a sieve and drain the excess juice.
Pour sifted flour, powdered sugar, spices, salt into the bowl of a kitchen mixer, pour in vanilla extract and risen yeast, add grated lemon zest and egg, then knead for a minute. Then, add soft butter and continue kneading for 10 minutes. Set the kneaded dough aside to rise for 1.5 hours. Next, add blanched almonds, candied fruit peel, candied cherries and raisins. Knead it for a minute.
Divide the soft marzipan into two balls, then shape each one into a 30-centimetre-long roll.
Lightly sprinkle the kitchen counter with flour, place the yeast dough on it and sprinkle it with flour, knead it gently, then divide it into two parts. Roll out each of these parts to a size of 25 by 35 centimetres and place the marzipan roll onto the edge of one of the longer sides. Roll the dough towards the centre, trying to cover the sides of the marzipan with the dough as well – roll the dough towards the centre from both edges, first from the side with the marzipan and then from the empty one. Both edges of the dough should meet in the middle, and at that point, the part with the marzipan should be lightly folded over the empty part of the dough.
Place the stollen on a baking sheet lined with baking paper, leaving a gap between each piece. Leave it to rise for 30 minutes. Brush the risen stollen with egg, place it in an oven preheated to 185 degrees Celsius, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the baked stollen from the oven, wait two minutes, then generously brush each one with liquid butter and sprinkle them with icing sugar. Let it cool completely.
Good to know when making stollen.
I don’t pour apple juice over candied fruit because the ones I usually use are soft enough. If you use dry, hard candied fruit, just like with raisins, pour apple juice over them too.
Stollen can be stored for about two weeks in a cool place. Just wrap it tightly in baking paper or any paper, and tie it with a thick thread. Stollen wrapped in this way also makes a nice gift for Christmas.
In this recipe, you can use candied orange peel, lime peel, or a mixture of several fruit peels.
Do you like baked goods with raisins? If so, try our recipe for Panettone.
