Sunday baking with Petra Galler: Christmas stollen

Stollen. Photo / Petra Galler

Stollen is a traditional German bread eaten at Christmas, and in my opinion, it needs more time in the sun. Sorry, but mince pies just don’t do it for me!

Loaded to the brim with booze-soaked fruits and nuts, it really is such a festive treat. The MVP, of course, is the generous log of marzipan running through it; you can absolutely make your own, but if you’re lazy and time-poor (like myself this week!), specialty food stores have some wonderful options.

Stollen makes for the perfect Christmas morning breakfast, so if this sounds like a bit of you, simply pop it in the fridge after you have filled it with marzipan and shaped them and cook it off in the morning.

Stollen keeps for up to 10 days when wrapped tightly at room temperature, but if your family is anything like mine, it will be gone in a hot second.

Stollen

Makes two loaves.

For the dough

• 235ml lukewarm milk
• Three tsp active dry yeast
• 100g caster sugar
• 520g plain flour
• One egg and two yolks
• 170g butter, softened
• Two tsp vanilla paste
• Zest of one lemon
• Pinch of salt
• One tsp ground cardamom
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• One tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp ground cloves
• 230g marzipan divided in half

For the fruits and nuts

• 250g raisins
• 85g candied lemon peel, finely diced
• 85g candied orange peel, finely diced
• 85g blanched slivered almonds
• 80ml dark rum

To finish

• 110g butter, melted
• Icing sugar for generous dusting

Method

1. Place the raisins, candied citrus peel, almonds and rum and stir to combine. Set aside and let the fruit mixture soak in the rum while you make the dough.
2. Stir the yeast and two tablespoons of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and let sit in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until very frothy.
3. Place the flour, remaining sugar, egg, egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt and all the spices in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeasted milk mixture and mix on medium speed for seven to eight minutes.
4. Remove the dough ball and place in a lightly greased bowl. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in a warm place to rise until nearly doubled in size (about one hour).
5. Punch down the dough and add the soaked fruit and 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. Working by hand, knead the fruit mixture into the dough until combined. If the dough is too wet to handle, add a little bit of extra flour.
6. Turn the dough out onto a floured bench and cut it into two equal halves. Press or roll each piece into an oval about 2cm thick. 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 each shorter end of dough to cover the ends of the marzipan.
7. Roll the dough carefully into a log, making sure everything is firm and the marzipan is safely tucked away. Repeat this process with the remaining dough and marzipan and place both stollen on a large lined baking tray, making sure there is plenty of room in between each.
8. Cover the stollen loosely with plastic wrap and let rest for about 40-60 minutes or until they are looking puffy. At this point, pick off any raisins that are sticking out of the dough, as these will burn easily while baking.
9. Towards the end of the final rise, preheat the oven to 175C (fan bake). Bake the stollen for 30-40 minutes or until golden. Let sit for five minutes, then generously brush with the melted butter while still warm. Immediately sprinkle with a generous amount of icing sugar, rubbing it into the creases and down the sides. Let cool completely. You may want to give it another dusting of powdered sugar once cooled, before cutting into generous slices.

Petra Galler.

Petra Galler is a self-taught pastry chef and cookbook author. She is a strong believer in bold baking, using different flavours and texture. Her delicious, bespoke creations are available to view and purchase on Instagram @butterbutternz.