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Stollen (German Christmas Fruit Bread)

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Ingredients

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Rum-Infused Fruit & Nut Blend:

  • 1 ¾ cups (9oz or 255g) raisins
  • ½ cup (3oz or 85g) candied lemon peel, chopped [1]
  • ½ cup (3oz or 85g) candied orange peel, chopped [1]
  • ¾ cup (3oz or 85g) sliced almonds, chopped
  • 1/3 cup (76g) quality dark rum [2]

Dough:

  • 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
  • 1 cup (227g) whole milk, lukewarm (110–115°F)
  • ½ cup (99g) granulated sugar, divided
  • 4 cups (480g) all-purpose flour, plus more if necessary
  • 1 large egg, room temperature
  • 2 large egg yolks, room temperature
  • ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp salt
  • ¾ tsp ground cardamom
  • ¾ tsp nutmeg, freshly ground
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 7 ounces (198g) Odense Marzipan, divided

Snowy Topping:

  • ½ cup (113g) unsalted butter, melted
  • 1 ½ cups (170g) confectioners’ sugar

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl, mix together raisins, candied citrus peel, and almonds. Pour rum on top, then stir to evenly coat everything with rum. Set aside. Allow to macerate while you prep and proof the dough, mixing every now and then.
  2. In a small bowl, mix together yeast, lukewarm milk, and 2 tablespoons (25g) sugar. Mix well and leave undisturbed for 10–15 minutes until the mixture gets foamy.
  3. In your mixer bowl, add the remaining 6 tablespoons (74g) sugar, flour, egg, egg yolks, butter, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
  4. Add foamy yeast mixture to flour mixture. Attach dough hook, then mix on low until the dough starts to come together, 2–4 minutes.
  5. Increase speed to medium and knead dough until it’s smooth and slightly tacky, 8–12 minutes.
  6. Tip dough out onto a clean work surface and form into a ball. Lightly grease inside of a large bowl with neutral oil. Place dough into bowl and roll around to coat all sides with oil. Cover bowl with beeswax wrap or cling film and place in a warm, dry spot and leave undisturbed until dough has nearly doubled in bulk, at least 60 minutes.
  7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
  8. After dough has doubled in size, punch it down to release excess gas build-up. Place dough back in mixer bowl.
  9. Drain any excess rum from infused fruit and nut mixture, then add mixture to dough. With the dough hook, knead dough on medium-low until fruit and nuts are well dispersed through the dough. If the dough still seems a little wet, add more flour, a tablespoon or two at a time with your mixer running on low. (On the rainy afternoon we baked our stollen, we added 4 tablespoons (30g) more flour.)
  10. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and divide into 2 equal pieces (about 830g each).
    NOTE: We recommend weighing your dough—instead of eyeballing it—so that you can create truly equal stollen.
  11. Working with one half at a time, press dough into a rectangle that is roughly 9" by 8" and 1" thick.
  12. Divide marzipan in half (99g) and roll one piece into a 9" long log. Gently press marzipan into the centre of your dough rectangle.
  13. Fold the left side of the dough over the marzipan log. Then fold the right side of the dough over the top, placing the edge just slightly left of the middle of the stollen. Pinch the ends of the stollen to seal in the marzipan.
  14. Using the side of your hand, create a dent slightly right of centre all along the length of the stollen.
    NOTE: Daring Gourmet has a great photo tutorial of shaping the stollen.
  15. Place stollen on baking sheet. To help your stollen keep its shape, create a baking ring by folding a piece of aluminum foil a couple of times, then wrap the foil strip around the stollen. Secure ring with oven-proof metal clips. (This helpful tip came from Plated Cravings.)
  16. Repeat steps with second half of dough and remaining marzipan.
  17. Loosely cover stollen and baking sheet with cling film. Place in a warm, dry spot and leave undisturbed until puffy, 45–60 minutes.
    NOTE: Due to the amount of fat and the macerated fruit, the stollen won’t rise a massive amount during the second proof.
  18. Towards the end of the dough’s rising time, heat oven to 350°F.
  19. Bake for 35–45 minutes or until light golden brown. (Internal temperature should be around 190°F.)
  20. Allow stollen to rest for 5 minutes, then poke ‘em all over with a toothpick. Brush stollen with melted butter—yes, all of it. Take your time so that the butter can really soak into the holes.
  21. Sprinkle 1 cup (114g) of confectioners’ sugar over stollen, dusting the tops with the most, but also rubbing some sugar onto the sides.
  22. Let stollen cool completely. (We let ours cool overnight.)
  23. You can enjoy the stollen now, but if you want to wrap it up for later, here’s how: Place a piece of wax or parchment paper on your work surface, sprinkle some of remaining confectioners’ sugar on the paper. Place one stollen on top. Sprinkle top with a bit more confectioners’ sugar. Wrap paper around stollen, then wrap with cling film, then with aluminum foil or beeswax wrap. Repeat with other stollen.
  24. Place the wrapped stollen in a cool place to “ripen” for a couple weeks. This allows the flavours to really penetrate the dough.
  25. However, don’t feel bad if you want to enjoy your stollen ASAP! We ate some slices as soon as it was cool, and it was still absolutely delicious!

Notes

  1. You can use store-bought candied citrus peel, but we definitely recommend making your own! If you’re going to make the candied citrus peel yourself, do it the day before you’re going to bake the stollen.
  2. We used Kraken Black Spiced Rum.

Slightly adapted from: The Daring Gourmet

Find it online: https://recipes.fikabrodbox.com/stollen-german-christmas-fruit-bread/