Stollen

Ingredients

Fruit

• 300 gsultanas
• 100 graisins
• 100 gcandied orange peel, chopped
• 80 gcandied lemon peel
• 100 mldark rum

Dough

• 600 gstrong white flour
• 200 mlwarm milk
• 20 gfresh yeast, or 7 g instant
• 250 gbutter, softened
• 80 gsugar
• 1egg
• 1 tspsalt
• grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 tspground cardamom
• ½ tspmace
• ½ tspnutmeg
• 1 tspvanilla

Also

• 100 gflaked or chopped almonds
• 200 gmarzipan, optional

To finish

• 150 gbutter, melted
• 100 gcaster sugar
• 200 gicing sugar

To serve

• sliced thinly, with coffee, through Advent

Directions

1. Soak the dried fruit and candied peel in the rum overnight, or for several days. Soak it properly. Dry fruit added to a rich dough draws moisture out of it during baking and leaves the loaf dry, and the soaked fruit is also far better to eat.
2. Drain any unabsorbed rum before the fruit goes in. Pat the fruit dry with a cloth. Warm the milk to blood heat and mix with the yeast and a spoonful of the sugar, and let it stand until foaming.
3. Mix the flour, salt, sugar, spices, zest and vanilla, then add the yeast mixture and the egg. Bring it together and knead for 10 minutes. Add the butter after the gluten has formed, never at the beginning. There is a great deal of it and added early it coats the flour so the dough never develops.
4. Keep kneading until it is smooth, glossy and elastic. Prove for about 2 hours until doubled, which takes longer than a lean dough because of the fat and sugar.
5. Knead the fruit in as briefly as you can, just until it is distributed. Work it in minimally. Roll or press the dough into an oval of about 25 by 20 cm. Fold the longer side over the shorter one, so the edge sits on top rather than at the edge, leaving a raised ridge.
6. Press the fold down gently to seal it. Prove a further 45 minutes, until it looks slightly puffed but not doubled. Do not over-prove it. Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 45 to 50 minutes. Cover it loosely with foil if it browns too fast, since the sugar in it colours quickly. It is done when it is deep golden and sounds hollow underneath.
7. Brush the hot loaf all over with melted butter, generously and repeatedly, letting each coat soak in. Use a great deal of butter and keep going until it will absorb no more. That butter layer is what seals the loaf and lets it keep for weeks.
8. Roll it in caster sugar while still warm, coating every surface. Let it cool completely, then dust it very thickly with icing sugar. Leave it for at least two weeks before cutting, and three or four is better. It keeps for two or three months wrapped, which is exactly what it was made for.
9. Dust it again with icing sugar before serving. Serve it in thin slices with coffee, through Advent rather than only on Christmas Day.

Technique

• Dresdner Christstollen is protected and made only by licensed Dresden bakeries.
• Mohnstollen, with poppy seed, and Quarkstollen are the common variants.
• It genuinely needs weeks of maturing and is made in late November.

Substitutions

• Any mix of dried fruit and candied peel.
• Orange juice in place of rum for soaking.

Variations

• Marzipanstollen, with a marzipan core.
• Mohnstollen, with a poppy seed filling.
• Quarkstollen, made with curd cheese and no yeast.

History

Dresden bakers made it from 1474 as a Lenten bread; a papal butter letter allowed butter in Advent, and Christstollen is now PGI protected.

Frequently asked questions

What is Stollen?

Stollen is a bread & pastry from Germany: buttery Christmas fruit bread with marzipan, dusted with sugar. Dresden bakers made it from 1474 as a Lenten bread; a papal butter letter allowed butter in Advent, and Christstollen is now PGI protected.

How long does Stollen take to make?

Stollen takes 1 hr plus overnight soaking and 3 hr rising of preparation and 50 min of cooking. The recipe makes 2 loaves. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Stollen?

Yes, within limits. Any mix of dried fruit and candied peel. Orange juice in place of rum for soaking.

What is the most important thing to get right in Stollen?

Mix the flour, salt, sugar, spices, zest and vanilla, then add the yeast mixture and the egg. Bring it together and knead for 10 minutes. Add the butter after the gluten has formed, never at the beginning. There is a great deal of it and added early it coats the flour so the dough never develops.