German Christmas Bread – Stollen
My scrumptious German Christmas bread (stollen) is full of dried fruits, nuts, and spices and is filled with a homemade marzipan center.
German Christmas bread with marzipan unlike the English Christmas cake is actually a bread and not cake. Marzipan is an essential ingredient, but if you prefer not to add it, you can make it without the marzipan too.
Ingredients for German Christmas Bread
Some dried fruits, some fresh, some sugar, and some bread making ingredients. That’s all it takes to make this stunning dessert.
Ingredients List for German Christmas Bread:
- Marzipan
- 2 cups blanched almond meal (ground blanched almonds)
- 1 cup icing sugar
- 2 teaspoons almond extract
- 3 tablespoons water
- pinch of salt
- Fruit and nut mix
- 1 cup raisins
- 1 cup sultanas
- 1/2 currents
- 1/2 cup candied fruit
- 1 cup blanched almond slices
- 1/4 cup rum (or brandy)
- The dough
- 1 cup warm milk (about 110 degrees F)
- 3 teaspoons dry active yeast
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 egg
- 1 egg yolk
- zest of 1 lemon
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground mace
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- icing sugar for dusting
More Dessert Recipes you will Like
Making the Marzipan
Marzipan is an essential part of German Christmas bread (stollen). Let’s start with making that first.
- To a food processor add 2 cups of almond meal and 1 cup of icing sugar.
- Pulse until you have a smooth homogenous consistency.
- Then add 1 teaspoon of almond extract and 3 tablespoons of water and pulse again until you have a smooth paste-like consistency.
- Sprinkle some icing sugar on the counter and roll the marzipan out.
- Divide it into two halves and roll each half into a ball.
- Wrap each log in plastic wrap and set it aside. I like to place it in the fridge while I make the dough.
Fruit and Nut Mix
What Christmas dessert is complete without a little booze? Well, you guessed it. This Christmas dessert definitely needs booze – Rum to be specific.
- In a medium mixing bowl, mix 1 cup of raisins, 1 cup of sultanas, 1/2 cup of currents, 1/2 cup of candied fruit, and 1 cup of slivered or sliced almonds.
- Pour 1/2 cup of rum over the fruits and nuts and mix well. This will allow the fruits to soften a little as they absorb the delicious flavour of rum.
- Don’t worry, the alcohol evaporates so kids will be able to enjoy the dessert as well. Set this aside and let the rum do its thing.
Dough for the German Stollen
This Christmas dessert is a yeast based bread – just like most other bread. So, the first thing you need to do is activate the yeast.
- Heat 1 cup of milk to about 110 degrees F.
- To this add 3 teaspoons of dry active yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Sugar helps the yeast bloom.
- Let it sit for about 15 minutes.
- While the yeast is blooming, in a large mixing bowl, add 1/2 unsalted butter (room temperature), and 1/2 cup sugar.
- Add 1 egg and the yolk of a second egg as well as the zest of a small lemon.
- Mix well to combine the sugar, butter, and eggs.
- By now the yeast should have bloomed. Add that to the bowl and mix well.
Adding the Spices
It’s time for the spices.
- Mix 1 teaspoon of mace, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, and 1/2 teaspoon of cardamom to the bowl and mix well.
- This step will ensure that all the spices are evenly spread into the dough.
- Now you can add the 4 cups of all-purpose flour to the bowl.
- Mix to form a dough.
- Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface and place the dough on it.
Adding the Fruits and Nuts
It’s time to add the fruits and nuts to the dough.
- Using a spoon add the fruits and nuts to the dough. Make sure not to spoon any of the leftover rum that was not absorbed by the fruits. You don’t want to make the dough too soft.
- Mix the fruits and nuts well into the dough and knead the dough well – for about 5 or so minutes.
- Put the kneaded dough back into the bowl and put a damn cloth on top of the dough.
- Let it sit in a warm place for about 1 hour so it rises and doubles in size.
Making the Loaf
Now that you have the dough ready. It’s time to make the loaf. To make the loaf,
- divide the dough into two equal parts.
- Roll one in a ball and place it on a floured surface.
- Using a rolling pin, roll the ball into a 9-inch circle.
- Place one log of the marzipan into the middle of the circle.
- Fold one side of the circle about 2/3 of the way over to the center of the circle.
- Make sure to wrap the filling under the fold.
- Now it’s time to fold the other end over about 2/3 of the way.
- Pinch the fold well so that you get a little bump on the top of the loaf.
- Pinch both ends of the loaf as well, so that the filling doesn’t ooze out of the sides.
The Second Rise for the Stollen
The loaf needs to rise a second time. This is the difficult time-consuming part. The second rise. By this time I am so ready to make my cup of coffee and just have the stollen already. But, alas, it’s not time to eat just yet.
- Cover the loaf with some plastic wrap. I use the same wrap that I used for the filling (less waste).
- Place parchment paper on a 9×13 inch baking tray place the loaf on it and let it do the rising on it.
Baking the Christmas Stollen
At last, we’re ready to bake the German Christmas brad.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
- Once the loaves have risen for about an hour, bake the loaf for 30-35 mins.
- You will be able to smell it baking all over the house.
- They are ready when you see the loaves have browned from the top and look a little bit like a regular loaf of bread.
- Get it out of the oven and turn the oven off.
The Icing Sugar Topping
One last crucial step to making delicious German Christmas bread (stollen) is the icing sugar coating.
- As soon as the loaves are out of the oven, spread a tablespoon of butter all over each of the loaves.
- I use a brush to spread the butter, so it’s evenly spread.
- Immediately sprinkle a generous amount of icing sugar on the butter. I use a sieve to sprinkle it, so it is spread evenly and there are no lumps.
Although the Christmas stollen is ready and you are really dying to cut a slice and enjoy it, it’s way too hot for now to cut into. If you try to cut a slice, it will crumble, so it’s best to let it rest for about 15 minutes before you do.
Now you are finally ready to make that long-awaited cup of coffee, slice it into the bread, and enjoy!
Tried and Liked the Recipe?
Scroll to the bottom of the page, and past the recipe to find the comment form. Please fill out details of what you liked and what you would like to see improved. Comments are loved! I look forward to hearing how much you enjoyed the recipe!
Stay Connected
Don’t forget to sign up for the free newsletter and be the first to learn about all my new recipes. And, don’t forget to follow me on my social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, YouTube, and Twitter.
Amazing German Christmas Stollen with Marzipan
Course: DessertCuisine: EuropeanDifficulty: Medium24
servings15
minutes35
minutes166
kcal120
mins15
mins2
hours50
minutesMy scrumptious German Christmas bread (stollen) is full of dried fruits, nuts, and spices and is filled with a homemade marzipan center.
Ingredients
- Marzipan
2 cups blanched almond meal
1 cup icing sugar
1 teaspoon almond extract
3 tablespoons water
pinch of salt
- Fruit and nut mix
1 cup raisins
1 cup sultanas
1/2 currents
1/2 cup candied fruit
1 cup blanched almond slices
1/4 cup rum (or brandy)
- The dough
1 cup warm milk (about 110 degrees F)
3 teaspoons dry active yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
zest of 1 lemon
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground mace
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
icing sugar for dusting
Directions
- Marzipan
- To make marzipan add the almond meal to a food processor. Add the icing sugar and pulse until you have a smooth homogenous consistency.
- Add the almond essence and the water and pulse again until you have a smooth paste-like consistency.
- Sprinkle some icing sugar on a counter and place the marzipan on it. Mit it again using your hands and divide it into two halves.
- Wrap each half in plastic wrap and set aside to cool.
- Fruit and nut mix
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the raisins, sultanas, currants, candied fruit, and almonds.
- Pour the rum over them and mix well.
- Set aside while you make the dough.
- The dough
- Heat the milk to about 110 degrees F.
- Pour the milk into a bowl or measuring cup. To this add the active yeast and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside to let the yeast bloom – for about 15 minutes or so.
- While the yeast is blooming, cream the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Add the egg, the egg yolks, and lemon zest to the butter and sugar and mix well.
- By now the yeast should have bloomed. Add it to the bowl and mix well.
- To this add the cardamom, mace, and cinnamon and mix well.
- Now add the all-purpose flour to the bowl and mix well to form a dough.
- Drop the dough on a well-floured counter and add the fruit and nuts to the dough. Do not add the rum that might be left over in the bowl.
- Knead the dough well and mix the fruit and nuts into the dough so that they are evenly spread. Kneading takes about 5 mins.
- Put the kneaded dough back into the bowl, cover it with a damp cloth, and set aside. The dough needs to rise for about an hour.
- Once the dough has risen, punch down the dough to remove any air bubbles.
- Divide the dough into two halves and form balls.
- Take one ball and roll it into a 9-inch circle (about 1/2 inch thick).
- Place one cooled marzipan roll in the center of the circle.
- Roll one side of the dough over the marzipan – this should only cover about 2/3 of the circle.
- Now roll the other side over so it comes on top of the first fold and goes a little over.
- Mix the reserved egg white with 1 tablespoon of water and lightly coat the open top so that it stays closed during baking.
- Pinch the two ends of the loaf (where the marzipan is still sticking out) and form a loaf.
- Repeat steps 13-18 for the second loaf.
- The loaves need to be proofed again. Cover the loaves with some plastic wrap (I use the same wrap I used for the marzipan – less waste).
- Place the loaves in a warm place to proof them for about an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Line two 9×13 inch baking sheets with parchment paper and place one loaf on each of the trays. Bake the loaves for about 30 – 35 mins. The loaves will rise and brown slightly when ready.
- As soon as you remove the loaves from the oven, spread 1 tablespoon of butter on each of them.
- Dust icing sugar all over them. The butter will help the icing sugar stick to the loaves.
Notes
The main difference between German bread and English cake is that the Stollen is made with a dough that rises, much like any other bread. Meanwhile, the English fruit cake is made like a cake. It does not require the dough to rise.
Since the Stollen is made with a small amount of butter, and fruit and nuts that have been soaked in alcohol, it can last much longer than most cakes. Store it on the counter for up to a week and in the fridge for up to a month.
Typically stollen is sliced using a serrated knife, much like any other bread, and served as sweet bread. I enjoy it with a cup of hot coffee or tea.
Don’t forget to follow me: Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube.
