Best Authentic Stollen German Christmas Bread Recipes

BEST AUTHENTIC STOLLEN (GERMAN CHRISTMAS BREAD)

Steps:

• Place the raisins, candied citrus peel and almonds in a medium bowl and pour the rum over it. Stir to combine. Set aside and let the fruit mixture soak in the rum while the dough rises.
• Stir the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and let sit in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until very frothy.
• Place the flour, remaining sugar, egg, egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, mace and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast/milk mixture. Use a spoon to stir the mixture until it comes together. Knead the dough on the bread setting for 7-8 minutes. Remove the dough ball, lightly spray the bowl with a little oil, return the dough ball, cover loosely with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place or lightly warmed oven (just barely warm), to rise until nearly doubled in size, at least 1 hour (likely closer to 2 hours depending on the temperature of the environment).
• Punch down the dough and add the soaked fruit/nut mixture to the dough (it should have absorbed all the rum by now but if there is excess liquid, pour it out before adding the mixture to the dough). Using the dough hook, knead the fruit/nut mixture into the dough until combined. If the dough is too wet to handle, add a little bit of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it in two equal halves. Press or roll each piece into an oval to about 1 inch thickness. Roll each piece of marzipan into a log the length of the oval. Press the marzipan gently into the middle of the dough. Fold the left side of the dough over to cover the marzipan, then fold right side over on top of the left side so that the edge of it sits just left of the middle of the stollen (see pics). In other words, don't fold the right side all the way over to the left edge of the stollen. Pinch and tuck the top and bottom ends of the stollen to cover the marzipan. Use the bottom edge of your hand to press down along the length of the stollen towards the right of the center to create a divot and characteristic hump (see pics). Place the stollen on a lined baking sheet. Cover the stollen loosely with plastic wrap and let them rest in a warm place or lightly warmed oven for 40-60 minutes until puffy. At that point you can pick off any raisins that are sticking out of the dough (they will burn during baking).
• Towards the end of the last rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the stollen for 30-40 minutes or until golden. You can use an instant read thermometer to aim for an internal temperature of 190 degrees F. Let the Stollen sit for 5 minutes, then use a toothpick to poke holes all over the stollen (this will allow the butter to seep in), then generously brush the stollen with the melted butter while the stollen are still warm. Immediately sprinkle with a generous amount of powdered sugar, rubbing it into the creases and down the sides. Let the stollen cool completely. You may want to give it another dusting of powdered sugar once cooled.
• The stollen can be sliced and eaten now or wrapped tightly (wrap in plastic wrap then foil) and left to "ripen" in a cool place for 2 weeks. The liquid from the dried fruits will further penetrate the dough for more flavor and moisture. Stollen can also be frozen for longer storage.
• Makes 2 large or 3 medium Stollen.For eating, I like to warm the slices up for a few seconds in the microwave, it makes the crumb nice and soft.

GERMAN CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a medium bowl, soak the raisins, candied fruit, and almonds in the rum overnight, stirring occasionally.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm milk with a pinch of sugar.
• Proof for 10 minutes, or until bubbles form.
• Mix 4 cups of the flour with the yeast mixture, egg, remaining 3/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup of sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt using a spoon or in a stand mixer with the dough hook for several minutes. The dough should just come together and not be very smooth yet. Remove from the bowl and set aside.
• Cream 14 tablespoons of the softened butter and the remaining 2/3 cup of flour with the nutmeg and cardamom until smooth. Switch to the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer.
• Add yeast dough mixture to the creamed mixture and begin mixing with the paddle beater until incorporated and a dough begins to form. Switch to the dough hook and continue beating until the dough is smooth.
• Let the dough rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
• Turn dough out onto a tabletop or lightly floured board. Knead in the rum-soaked fruit and almonds. Let rest for 15 minutes.
• Return the dough to the floured board and form into a rectangle with 2 high sides and a dip in the middle. Fold one-third of the dough over to the middle, filling the dip. Pat into a stollen shape.
• Fold a piece of aluminum foil several times on the 2 long ends to build walls for the stollen, so it holds the shape while baking. You may also use a stollen pan if you have one.
• Let the stollen rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Heat the oven to 350 F.
• Dot the top of the stollen with the remaining 1 tablespoon softened butter. Bake loaves for 45 to 55 minutes, or until loaves are golden and done, about 190 F in the center. Cover with foil if it begins to brown too much.
• Brush warm loaf with the melted butter and dust thickly with confectioners' sugar . Cool on a rack.
• Wrap tightly in foil and keep in a cool place for two to three weeks to ripen.

TRADITIONAL STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine yeast and 1/2 cup warm water, and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, sift together dry ingredients. Stir in milk and 1 1/4 cups melted butter. Add dissolved yeast and eggs. Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead until fairly smooth.
• In two separate bowls, soak currants in cognac, and raisins in orange juice. Let each stand for 10 minutes.
• In a medium-size bowl, mix together currants and raisins with their soaking liquids, the orange peel, lemon zest, citron, apricots, and almonds. Work mixture into dough. Continue kneading for about 10 minutes. If dough is sticky, knead in more flour, but be careful not to overwork.
• Place dough in a large buttered bowl. Cover bowl with a kitchen towel, and let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 to 2 hours.
• Punch down the dough, and cut in quarters. Roll each piece into a 12-by-8-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter, then fold one long side to the center. Fold other long side over first side, overlapping it by 1 inch. Turn dough over, taper the ends, and place on parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat for remaining 3 loaves, using a second parchment-lined baking sheet for the third and fourth loaves. Cover loaves with plastic wrap; let rise again in a warm place, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees, with two racks centered. Bake stollen until golden brown, about 35 minutes, rotating the sheets between the racks halfway through baking. Cool on wire rack; dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve.