Stollen! My Way.
Heavy on the almond, this is my version of the famous German Christmas bread
During the pandemic, I took the opportunity of being locked away at home to try recipes I had never attempted before. I made pasta, I made cheese, I made medieval cakes and I made a ton of cocktails. There was more, but you get the picture. This Christmas, I’m keeping it light, as in this is the first year I haven’t even picked up a Christmas tree. I’m not even in charge of Christmas dinner this year, which makes me sad but sometimes other people want to be in charge I guess, and I just have to accept that. But I haven’t given up on Christmas 2024 entirely. Instead of decking the halls, I’ve been trying out a few new recipes, and one that has long been on my list is Stollen.
A specialty of the German city of Dresden, Stollen is a brioche bread enhanced with a ton of candied fruit, nuts, raisins, currants and marzipan. The bread is log-shaped and once baked, it’s dunked in a pool of rum-soaked butter and then given a thick dusting of icing sugar. Sounds great, right?
Yes and no. I have never been a fan of baked good shipped overseas that cost a fortune, tend to be dry and taste like potpourri. Same goes for a lot of those Italian pannetones that have a perfumy flavour and an abundance of candied fruit that ruin the whole experience. That said, I’m sure a Dresden Stollen tasted on site is fabulous, but I prefer something made closer to home.
And then there is the issue of raisins.
Because I’m a card-carrying raisin hater (in baked goods at least), I’ve long avoided this Christmas classic, but as I can’t resist a baking challenge, I decided to make it anyway. However, my version would be raisin-free. Of course the Germans will be huffing at my exclusion of raisins but it’s my Stollen and I can do what I want — so there!
I consulted many books for recipes and found that no two Stollen are alike. Many recipes also yield enough Stollen for a small village so as it’s a bit late to be giving away gifts, I only wanted to make two to last over the holidays (and if I messed up, the failure of two Stollens over say a dozen wouldn’t hurt so much).
I settled on a recipe by the (incredibly handsome) British\French baker Richard Bertinet that I adapted to make fewer loaves, raisin-free loaves, and work with Canadian ingredients. Bertinet adds a layer of almond cream along with the marzipan in the centre of his Stollen, which I approve of because as much as I hate raisins I love almonds. Here is a video of him making Stollen which might help you along the process.
Now if you are a raisin lover, I’ve included raisins in the recipe which you can add at your will. The resulting Stollen is very delicious in that German Christmas nuts, spice and candied fruit way. I especially love it toasted with a slick of butter scraped overtop and a cup of coffee alongside. So festive!
The only improvement that could be made? You know… a few raisins might not be so bad after all. Just a few. But let’s leave that to next year.
Until then, happy holidays to all. And if you haven’t had time to pick up all your presents, please consider a gift subscription to my Substack and if you’re enjoying my work, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Thanks!
Stollen
Makes 2, 13-inch loaves
This recipe, adapted from one by Richard Bertinet, can be made with or without the raisins and can even be made without the almond cream, though the almond cream gives extra moisture and flavour to the bread.
1 cup (240 ml) milk
7 tablespoons (96g) butter
3 1/2 cups (490g) bread flour, plus extra for dusting
1 rounded teaspoon instant dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
For the mix-ins
3/4 cup (90g) sultana raisins
1/4 cup (50g) natural glacé cherries
1 cup (about 100g) mixed citrus peel, roughly chopped
1/4 cup (30g) toasted flaked almonds
2 tablespoons rum
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the marzipan filling:
1/4 cup (55g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup (50g) sugar
1/2 cup (50g) ground almonds
1 tablespoon plain flour
1 large egg, beaten
1 tablespoon dark rum or brandy
100g natural (uncoloured) marzipan, cut into 4 pieces
Heat the milk until hot to the touch, remove from heat and add the butter. Set aside to cool to just slightly warm.
Place the flour in a mixing bowl, and add the yeast, sugar, and salt. Either by hand or in a stand mixer using the dough hook, blend in the milk/butter mixture and the eggs. When the mixture comes together into a dough, mix at medium speed until the dough forms a smooth ball, OR, by hand, turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead for 10 minutes, then form into a ball. If the dough seems too sticky, knead in a few spoonfuls of flour. It should be soft but not dry or sticky.
Lightly flour the mixing bowl and put the dough back into it, cover with plastic wrap and leave in the warmest spot in your kitchen for 1-1½ hours until doubled in volume.
Meanwhile, mix together all of the ingredients for the filling and set aside.
When the dough has risen, lightly flour the work surface again. Turn the dough out and use your fingertips to flatten it into a rough square shape. Scatter the filling mixture over the dough, fold over in thirds, make a quarter turn, then fold over in thirds again to incorporate the filling. Form back into a ball, then put back into the lightly floured mixing bowl to rise for another 30 minutes.
Make the marzipan filling: using a mixer, beat the butter until soft then mix in the sugar, followed by the ground almonds and flour. Blend in the egg and booze, and beat at high speed until the mixture is very light and fluffy. Transfer to a small bowl and chill. Roll the 4 marzipan pieces into thin logs about 12’ in length. Set aside.
Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper.
Lightly flour the work surface and turn out the dough. Cut into 2 equal pieces. Put each piece, smooth-side down, onto the work surface and roll out to an even oval shape about 13’ (33 cm) in length and 9’ (23 cm) in width. Place half of the almond cream onto the oval, spread over the surface leaving a 2cm border all around, then press the marzipan logs into the cream along either side (see below).
Working with one stollen at a time, fold one of the long sides into the centre (over the crème and marzipan filling), then fold the other side over the top, overlapping slightly. Press down all around the edges to seal.
Put the filled stollens, seam-side down, onto the baking sheet. Cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise, covered loosely with plastic wrap, in a warm place for about 1½ hours until they’ve almost doubled in size.
To finish:
1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt (to glaze)
1/2 cup (110g) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons dark rum
About 2 cups (about 250g) icing sugar to dust
Heat the oven to 350ºF (180°C). Brush the breads with the beaten egg and bake for about 40 minutes until uniformly golden.
Just before they’re ready, make the butter glaze. Melt the butter in a small pan, then stir in the rum. Take the Stollens out of the oven and brush generously all over with the butter glaze while hot. Using a fine sieve, immediately dust thickly with icing sugar. Cool on a wire rack.
Store well-wrapped.
It looks fabulous
so nice to have a beloved classic