A sweet German yeast bread, stollen is packed with rum soaked fruit and marzipan and dusted with powder sugar for a winter look.
Yes, another yeast Christmas bread. This time we’re talking a trip to Germany to enjoy a slice of Stollen also known as Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen.
Stollen, in a quick definition, is the yeast version of the American fruit cake. Most of the time it has a log of marzipan baked inside it. It contains chopped fruit, chopped candied peel, sometimes chopped nuts (not mine) the log of marzipan and is flavored with fresh ground cardamom and or cinnamon. Sometimes finely grated citrus peel is added. Unlike the Romanian swirl bread, the bread itself is not a very sweet one, the sweetness is given by the dried fruit and also by the powder sugar sprinkled on top. Optional you can mix a powder sugar with few drops of water to make a thick icing and pour it over the bread.
I’ve also made a Panettone but time is running short and I won’t be able to share the recipe with you until the end of #25recipestoXmas. Can you believe today is day 23? Two more recipes to go and some amazing gifts!
And speaking of gifts, the lovely people at Silpat are offering to one lucky reader a half-size Silpain. Never heard of Silpain? It’s a little different than Silpat.
Silpain is made specially for baking bread. Just like Silpat it’s a non-stick mat but it has a gazillion of mini-holes allowing the water from the dough to seep through it on the baking sheet giving the bread a great crusty finish (now you can have a bottom crust as well, not just the top!)
For the giveaway details please scroll to the bottom of this post.
Yields 1 loaf
Stollen - A slightly sweet German yeast bread packed with rum soaked fruit and marzipan. Dusted with powder sugar for a winter look.
20 minPrep Time
30 minCook Time
6 hrTotal Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 2 cups (240 grams) white whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cups (180 grams) bread flour
- 1/3 cup lukewarm water
- 2 tsp (7 grams) dry yeast
- 1 cup dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, chopped apricots, chopped citrus peel) (nuts can be added also)
- 2 tsp rum (or 2 tbsp if you prefer)
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground cardamom (half of it can be replaced with cinnamon if you prefer)
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) butter (melted and cooled)
- 2 eggs
- ~ 1/3 cup water
- 150 grams marzipan
- powder sugar
Instructions
- In a small bowl place the dried fruit (and nuts if you're using) and the rum. Cover with plastic foil and leave for a couple of hours or even overnight.
- In a mixing bowl sift or whisk the two flours. Make a well in the middle and pour 1/3 cup lukewarm water. Sprinkle the dry yeast on top and let it at room temperature until the yeast has dissolved and bubbles start to appear.
- In another bowl lightly beat the two eggs, mix in the sugar, melted butter (make sure it's cooled so the eggs don't scramble) salt and cardamom (and cinnamon if using)
- Add the dough hook to the mixer and add the wet ingredients to the yeast mixture. When everything is mixed in add the fruit with any remaining liquid (I had none, but if you're using 2 tbsp rum you might have some drops left) and slowly add enough water to make an elastic soft dough that cleans itself from the sides of the bowl. (I had to add 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp of water)
- Take the dough out and place it in a greased clean bowl. Cover with plastic foil and leave at room temperature until doubled in volume.
- Take the dough out and shape it into an 13X9 inch oval. Place the marzipan log in the middle and cover, lengthwise, with the other half.
- Place the bread onto a baking sheet, cover with plastic foil and let it rise again for 25-30 minutes.
- In the meantime heat the oven to 375F.
- Bake the bread for about 30 minutes until the crust is nicely browned.
- As soon as you take it out of the oven brush it with butter (optional).
- Leave to cool and just before serving sprinkle heavily with powder sugar.
- Enjoy!
For other Christmas treats check out #25recipestoXmas. You can also see the gallery on Pinterest or on Google+
Also, you might want to check out my friend Abeer’s Christmas Extravaganza
1. Poppy seed roll (Makowiec) from Raven at Ravienomnoms
2. Annabelle’s ginger crisps from Liz at That Skinny Chick Can Bake
3. Chocolate cranberry skillet cake from Sandra at Sandra’s Easy Cooking
4. Chocolate cookies with candied fruit slices from Kate at Diethood
5. Pistachio and cardamom semifreddo with rose cream from Manu at Manu’s Menu
6. Rose syrup chocolate bark from Abeer at Cakewhiz
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And now the giveaway part!
To enter the giveaway use the rafflecopter form below. Please leave the mandatory comment or the other entries will be deleted.
The giveaway is sponsored by Silpat. I was given a free Silpain to use in my kitchen. Opinions are all mine.
The giveaway is open until December 31st at 11:59 p.m. EST. The giveaway is only open to U.S. residents. Be sure a valid email address is included with your mandatory comment. Winner will be announced on this post. I will email the winner and if the winner doesn’t respond in 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. Good luck!
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