How to make the Best Stollen
How do you like your Stollen?
The one with a bread-like fluffy texture or other has a cakey, dense texture.
Stollen is a traditional German fruitcake with a long history; there is no wonder that there are as many variations of Stollen as there are people who make it.
My version is a kind of in-between cake and bread because I want some lightness in the dense, chewy texture. It includes almond paste (or marzipan) in the center, with many candied dried fruits and nuts. And, of course, lots of LOVE.
Stollen’s sugar coating makes it store for up to 2 weeks or more; it makes a great holiday gift!
Stollen
A special Christmas dessert
Equipment
- stand mixer,oven, bowl
Ingredients
pre-fermented dough
- 100 g all-purpose flour (preferably bread flour for making french bread)
- 5 g instant yeast
- 70 g whole milk
Stollen Dough
- 60 g unsalted butter
- 20 g sugar
- 3 g salt
- 60 g almond paste
- 6 g spices of your choice(cinammon, nutmeg, all-spice, clove, black pepper)
- 100 g all-purpose flour (preferably bread flour for making french bread)
- 50 g dried fruits preserved in rum
- 50 g almond (roasted and chopped)
- 50 g walnuts (roasted and chopped)
filling
- 50 g almond paste (mazipan)
- 10 g semi-sweet chocolate※optional
Finishing ingredients
- 50 g unsalted butter
- 50 g granulated sugar
- 50 g powdered sugar
Instructions
pre-fermented dough
- Mix all the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and let it sit in the friedge overnight. (8 to 10 hours)
- Take our from the fridge 1 hour before making the dough.
Stollen dough
- Put softened unsalted butter in a stand-mixer bowl. With the paddle attatchment, cream it until soft. Add sugar and mix well.
- Add almond paste and spices, continue mixing until smooth.
- Add flour, mix until combine with turn on and off the mixer to avoid frying the flour.
- Change the paddle attachment to the dough hook. Add pre-fermented dough, mix until well combined.
- Add dried fruits and nuts. Mix until incorporated.
Shaping
- Shape the dough into oval, roll out the upper half of the dough.Place almond paste in the center, sprinkle chopped semi-sweet chocolate over it.
- Bring the dough over to the dough towards you to hold the almond paste inside. Press to seal the end.
- Let it rise at room temperature for 40 to 50 mins or until a little bit puffy.Preheat the oven to 180℃（356°F) while fermenting.
Baking and finishing
- Bake for 40 to 45 mins until golden brown.While baking, melt unsalted butter.
- Soak Stollen in melted butter right after taking out from the oven. Spoon it over until Stollen soaks up the butter.
- Cover the entire surface with the mixture of granulated sugar and powdered sugar.
- Let it cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar again before wrapping.