Bread Baking: Christstollen (German fruit bread)

 If you've never heard of Christstollen or Stollen, it's a cake-like bread filled with raisins and candied orange peel and marzipan. It's a tradition around Christmas time in Germany.

Christstollen:
1 cup (225mL) warm milk
3 tbsp dry yeast
1/2 cup (100g) sugar
4 cups (500g) flour
1 egg and 2 egg yolks
3/4 cup (180g) butter
2 tsp vanilla extract or 2 tbsp vanilla sugar
zest of 1 lemon (about 2 tsp)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
200g marzipan
1 2/3 cups (250g) raisins
1 1/4 cups (85g) candied lemon peel
1 1/4 cups (85g) candied orange peel
1/2 cup (85g) chopped almonds
1/3 cup (75g) rum (or apple juice for virgin stollen)
butter and powdered sugar for garnish


First, combine raisins, candied lemon peel, candied orange peel and chopped almonds to a bowl and add rum (or apple juice) and allow to soak for at least an hour.



In the meantime, make the dough. Combine milk, yeast and sugar to activate the yeast. 


Add flour, eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg and yeast mixture to a large mixing bowl. Mix with a spoon until you can't anymore and knead until everything is combined. Knead butter in at the end. You may need more or less flour, so feel free to add a bit more flour if the dough is still sticky. The dough should be soft, but not sticky. Cover with a clean towel and allow to rise for an hour or until doubled in size. 





Punch down the dough and add the soaked fruit. There shouldn't be any more liquid in the mixture. If there is a bit left, pour out all the excess liquid before adding the fruit to the dough. If the dough is too wet after adding the fruit, add a bit more flour until dough comes back to consistency.


Split the dough into two pieces and roll into a large oval. Place a log of marzipan in the middle and fold both sides of the oval over the marzipan, overlapping each other. Tuck in the ends and use the sides of the hands to press the dough into the characteristic stollen shape. Allow to rise about half an hour or 45 minutes. Before baking, remove the raisins that are showing on the outside, as these will burn in the oven.





Bake the stollen at 350°F or 180°C for 30-40 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes. 


Poke holes in the stollen with a toothpick. Brush melted butter onto the stollen and dust generously with powdered sugar, making sure powdered sugar covers every surface. 







It can be eaten right away, or wrapped with plastic wrap and foil and allowed to ripen for about 2 weeks for more flavor. It can also be frozen. Enjoy!





Watch us make this traditional German fruit bread on our YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/hfN--q3KRNc
Schaut zu wie wir diesen traditionellen deutschen Stollen auf unserem YouTube Kanal machen hier: https://youtu.be/KkviL5jZG9M

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