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Yeasted cake-like fruit bread is studded with nuts, dried and candied fruits, easy homemade marzipan, infused with aromatic spices, and coated with powdered sugar is traditional German sweet bread eaten during Christmas. It is also known as Christstollen.
German Stollen has been on my to-make list for years and finally, I decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did because we love it a lot. I didn’t realize how much I actually enjoyed marzipan and it is so easy to make your own marzipan too.
What is stollen?
Stollen is an iconic German yeasted sweet bread filled with rum-soaked dried fruits, nuts, aromatic spices, and sometimes marzipan log and heavily dusted with powdered/icing sugar and usually served during Christmas time. It is dated back to the Middle Ages and originated in Dresden,Germany. It is also characterized by its notable hump shape. The early Stollen was just plain bread without any milk and butter as it was baked for Lent. After the ban on butter was lifted, the stollen has evolved to what it is today, rich sweet dough studded with all the good stuff 😉
The shape of stollen
Stollen is shaped with a round hump on top (though not that obvious on mine LOL). Some said the hump represents baby Jesus was swaddled in blanket and some said it represents the camels that carried gifts to the Christ Child on his first Christmas.
How to make German stollen with chocolate chips and marzipan
1. Soak sultanas, raisins, candied peel in rum. Cover and let them soak until you are ready to use them later. If you plan ahead, you can soak this overnight too
2. Put all ingredients for marzipan in a large mixing bowl. Combine and mix into a mass. It should be moist and not too sticky. If it’s very sticky, add a bit more almond flour
3. Transfer to a work surface and knead a few times. Form into a log, about 12 inches long and wrap it tightly with a cling wrap. It can be made ahead and kept in the fridge
4. Add yeast to the warm milk and leave for 10 minutes until they are foamy
5. In a bowl of a stand mixer or a mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture, egg, and butter
6. Knead on low speed (speed 2) for 2-3 minutes and then switch to medium speed (speed 4 on KA) and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough needs to reach a window pane stage. When you stretch the dough thin, it won’t break
7. Cover the dough and let it proof at a warm place until it doubles in size. About 1 hour or longer depending on the temperature where you are
8. Remove the soaked dried fruit from the rum and remove any excess liquid. Once the dough has doubled and when you push it with your index finger, the indentation stays, the dough is done proofing
9. Transfer to a work surface and knock out the air bubbles and add the rum-soaked fruit, chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and knead for 2-3 minutes to distribute them. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes so it’s easier for you to roll it out as the gluten won’t fight you
10. Lightly dust your work surface with a bit of flour and roll the dough out with a rolling pin dusted with some flour into a 9 x 12″ rectangle
11. Put the marzipan on the middle of the dough
12. Then fold the dough over to cover the marzipan only. Don’t stretch the dough over to the edge to cover. Then press down along the seam where the marzipan is to really seal the dough there
13. Transfer the shaped dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and proof again at a warm place until they puff up again almost double, about an hour or so depending on your temperature
14. 15 minutes before the end of the proofing time, preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven, bottom heat only. For the convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 degrees. Place it on the middle rack and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the internal temperature is about 200 F (93 C) when you insert an instant-read thermometer. The top should be golden brown
15. Once out of the oven, poke some random holes with a skewer on the surface of the loaf
16. Brush with some melted butter all over
17. Dust with icing sugar very generously all over while the stollen is still warm
18. Transfer to a cooling rack and let it cools down completely. Once it has cooled down completely, dust with even more icing sugar. Stollen is usually coated with quite a thick layer of icing sugar, but it’s up to you if you don’t want it to be too sweet. I don’t dust it too heavily as I find it too sweet for me
Did you make this recipe?
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The recipe for the dough is adapted from here
Easy Stollen with Chocolate Chips and Marzipan (Christstollen)
Ingredients
Dough:
- 2 tsp dried yeast
- 120 gr lukewarm milk
- 375 gr bread flour plus more for dusting
- 1 large egg
- 50 gr sugar
- 50 gr melted butter
Spices:
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp cardamom
Fruits, nuts, and chocolate:
- 75 gr sultanas
- 50 gr raisins
- 50 gr candied orange peel finely diced
- 50 gr slivered almond finely diced
- 80 gr dark rum
- 100 gr semi-sweet chocolate chips
Homemade marzipan:
- 125 gr almond flour
- 125 gr icing sugar
- ¼ tsp almond extract
- ⅛ tsp rose water
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ½ Tbsp light corn syrup
- Water as needed
To finish:
- icing sugar for dusting
- 2 Tbsp Butter melted
Instructions
Soak the dried fruits and peel:
- Soak sultanas, raisins, candied peel in rum. Cover and let them soak until you are ready to use them later. If you plan ahead, you can soak this overnight too
Make the marzipan:
- Put all ingredients for marzipan in a large mixing bowl. Combine and mix into a mass. It should be moist and not too sticky. If it's very sticky, add a bit more almond flour.
- Transfer to a work surface and knead a few times. Form into a log, about 12 inches long and wrap it tightly with a cling wrap. It can be made ahead and kept in the fridge
Prepare the dough:
- Add yeast to the warm milk and leave for 10 minutes until they are foamy. In a bowl of a stand mixer or a mixing bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients. Make a well in the center and add the yeast mixture, egg, and butter. Knead on low speed (speed 2) for 2-3 minutes and then switch to medium speed (speed 4 on KA) and knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough needs to reach a window pane stage. When you stretch the dough thin, it won't break
1st proofing:
- Cover the dough and let it proof at a warm place until it doubles in size. About 1 hour or longer depending on the temperature where you are
Shaping:
- Remove the soaked dried fruit from the rum and remove any excess liquid. Once the dough has doubled and when you push it with your index finger, the indentation stays, the dough is done proofing. Transfer to a work surface and knock out the air bubbles and add the rum-soaked fruit, chocolate chips and nuts to the dough and knead for 2-3 minutes to distribute them. Cover and let it rest for 15 minutes so it's easier for you to roll it out as the gluten won't fight you
- Lightly dust your work surface with a bit of flour and roll the dough out with a rolling pin dusted with some flour into a 9 x 12" rectangle. Put the marzipan on the middle of the dough and then fold the dough over to cover the marzipan only. Don't stretch the dough over to the edge to cover. Then press down along the seam where the marzipan is to really seal the dough there
2nd proofing:
- Transfer the shaped dough onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover and proof again at a warm place until they puff up again almost double, about an hour or so depending on your temperature
Baking:
- 15 minutes before the end of the proofing time, preheat oven to 350 F (180 C) for conventional oven, bottom heat only. For the convection oven, lower the temperature by 20 degrees
- Place it on the middle rack and bake for 35-40 minutes or until the internal temperature is about 200 F (93 C) when you insert an instant-read thermometer. The top should be golden brown
- Once out of the oven, poke some random holes with a skewer on the surface of the loaf and brush with some melted butter all over. Dust with icing sugar very generously all over while the stollen is still warm
Cooling down:
- Transfer to a cooling rack and let it cools down completely. Once it has cooled down completely, dust with even more icing sugar. Stollen is usually coat with quite a thick layer of icing sugar, but it's up to you if you don't want it to be too sweet. I don't dust it too heavily as I find it too sweet for me
Storage:
- If you are patient, wrap the all cooled-down stolen with a plastic wrap and then another layer of aluminum foil and let it "age" for 2-3 days before serving
- Stollen also freezes very well, which was what I did. I pre-slice the stollen and then wrap them in a plastic wrap and another layer of foil and put them inside a freezer bag, push all the air out and seal. It can be kept frozen for one month for the best result. When ready to serve, simply reheat in a microwave for a few seconds until just warm through
