Stollen (German Christmas Bread)

A German stollen recipe adapted from a century old recipe, with a Canadian twist. Featuring marzipan, dried cranberries, and a sweet bread base, this is a Christmas staple. This is adapted from Alex's (87 year old!) Godmother's great-grandmother's handwritten recipe. Alex translated it into English and made a few changes to suit modern baking.

Apart from a couple flavour changes, the base recipe is essentially the same, apart from adding concrete amounts and times. Instead of two types of raisins, we went for dried cranberries - a Canadian holiday must-have, especially with the festive jewel tones - and added candied peel, which isn't usually present in traditional stollen. Small pieces of marzipan remain and are scattered throughout the loaf.

Stollen is a bit hit-or-miss depending on the German you're talking to, and for most the trick is finding the proper balance for the bread to fruit ratio. It's not fruit cake!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Yeast: this can by traditional or quick dry yeast or fresh yeast if you can get it. The yeast is being proofed regardless so it won't make a difference.
• Candied peel: the homemade kind is pretty far off from the the little cubes that you get in the shops, but you can just omit it if you prefer. We've kept the amount used pretty small so it doesn't overpower the bread.
• Cranberries: try subbing dried currants or raisins for all or part of the cranberries. The old recipe calls for raisins and Korinthen, meaning corinthian raisins, or black raisins. We've replaced this partly with the candied peel and dried cranberries.
• Spices: if you like more cinnamon, add more to the dough, or go for cloves, star anise, whatever you fancy.
• Make it dairy-free: simply use vegan butter and milk. You can likely manage without the egg yolks to make it fully vegan, but you'll lose the dense, biscuit-y nature of a stollen.

Method

Step 1: heat the milk and butter, then mix with the sugar. Cool to skin-temperature before mixing in the yeast. Once foamy, stir in the egg yolks.

Step 2: add the dry ingredients and stir into a shaggy dough.

Step 3: knead the dough until soft and smooth, then cover and set aside.

Step 4: let the dough rise until doubled in size.

Step 5: mix in the dried fruit and marzipan, then shape the dough into a log.

Step 6: cover the dough and set aside to rise again.

Step 7: bake the bread for about 40 minutes and brush it with butter while still warm.

Step 8: optionally coat in powdered sugar and serve.

Top Tips

• Cover the fruit: make sure you really try to tuck any dried fruit under the dough when you're shaping the loaf. Any cranberries (or raisins) that are exposed during baking will burn. Another way to manage this is to remove any that are sticking out past the dough after the second proof.
• Don't add too much flour: the dough will seem a bit wet and sticky when you first start kneading, but it'll come together into a nice smooth dough with a bit of work. Don't be tempted to add too much flour during kneading. As with any sweet dough, it should feel soft when you're working with it.
• Be patient: the long proving time is due to the high amount of fat and sugar present in the dough. With a greatly enriched dough like this, the rising time is lengthened significantly (much like a brioche). Be sure to plan ahead.

Recipe Notes

Optionally, for a more beautiful loaf and one that lasts longer, coat the outside in a generous layer of powdered sugar before storing. This can be done twice - once immediately after buttering the baked loaf, and again once it cools completely. Avoid adding the sugar if you prefer something less sweet.

Stollen is meant to be a bit on the dense side, with a scone-like crumb. It has a very high amount of added fat, with an almost 1:2 butter to flour ratio, plus egg yolks, whole milk, and sugar - all of this results in a tighter, almost short crumb. It's one of the defining aspects of the bread and not an error!

If your butter is unsalted, add a half teaspoon of sea salt when you add the spices.

Shaping

The shapes of stollen are varied, depending on the region and type. You may be most familiar with Dresdner Stollen, with its ubiquitous rolled top appearance. This is what's typically seen in North America.

Since it is relatively difficult to achieve this shape at home without significant separation of the bread, we're sharing a simpler form instead. If you're very experienced then go for the double roll shape - we want to ensure that the bread works for every baker, and why we went this route.

FAQ

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