Stollen Bread (German Christmas Bread)

This conventional German stollen bread is the proper deal with for the vacations! It’s a scrumptious candy bread stuffed with cranberries, raisins, candied citrus, and a luscious almond filling.

I like German meals and attempting to recreate it at residence! A number of extra recipes you’ll should check out: pork schnitzel, German oven pancakes, and this German potato salad! (It’s one in all my favourite sides!)

German Christmas Fruit Loaf (Christstollen)

This vacation season, swap out your conventional fruit cake for this tasty German model! Translated, “stollen” means fruit loaf. These are eaten all yr spherical, however in December they’re referred to as Christstollen. Stollen bread is delicate with the proper chew. Just like a fruit cake, it’s additionally loaded with cranberries, raisins, and candied citrus for scrumptious fruity taste!

What actually makes stollen good, although, is its tasty almond filling. I exploit almond paste on this recipe, however it’s additionally generally made with marzipan! Stollen is the proper mixture of flavors and textures. It’s candy, nutty, and fruity! You’ve obtained to offer this scrumptious German pastry a strive for Christmas. It could simply grow to be a brand new household custom!

What You’ll Must Make Stollen

I’ve damaged this listing of elements up into a number of totally different components so it’s simpler to arrange. Should you can’t discover almond paste at your native grocery retailer, take a look at my ideas part beneath on how you can make it at residence.

Fruit and Nut Combination

• Dried Fruits: In my stollen bread I used dried cranberries and golden raisins for the proper mixture of tart and candy.
• Candied Citrus: I used each candied orange and lemon peel. Should you can’t discover these in-store, use my recipe right here to make them from scratch!
• Slivered Almonds: Provides a bit further nuttiness to the stollen.
• Darkish Rum: Added for further taste.

Bread

• Milk: I at all times like to make use of entire milk for bread as a result of the fats content material makes it delicate and tender. You’ll want to use milk that’s heat to assist activate the yeast!
• Yeast: I used energetic dry yeast.
• Sugar: Simply common granulated sugar works nice to sweeten up the dough.
• Bread Flour: Bread flour has a better protein content material than all-purpose flour, so it produces extra gluten and offers your stollen extra chew.
• Giant Egg: Binds all the elements collectively!
• Softened Butter: I used unsalted butter as a result of we add salt individually.
• Vanilla: Vanilla and candy breads go hand-in-hand! Add some in for an additional pop of taste.
• Lemon Zest: I add lemon zest for a contact of zesty taste.
• Salt: Retains your stollen from tasting bland.
• Spices: No Christmas bread is full with out spice! I used cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon for the proper vacation taste.

Almond Filling

• Almond Paste: For the filling of the stollen. You can even use marzipan as an alternative. Should you can’t discover both on the retailer, you can also make it from scratch utilizing my directions beneath.

Garnish

• Melted Butter: Nothing compares to a bit melted butter brushed on prime of home made bread!
• Powdered Sugar: Stollen is historically made with powdered sugar dusted on prime, however you’ll be able to omit this in order for you your bread to be much less candy.

Tips on how to Make Stollen Bread

I do know all of the directions could also be intimidating, however making stollen is definitely fairly easy! It simply takes a bit time and endurance to get your dough proper.

Making ready the Fruit and Nut Combination

1. Mix Components: Put together the fruit and nut combination by combining dried cranberries, raisins, candied fruit peels, almonds, and rum.
2. Soak in Rum: Permit the combination to soak, stirring often till you might be prepared to make use of it.

Making the Dough

1. Activate Yeast: Within the bowl of a stand mixer mix your milk, yeast, and sugar. Let the combination relaxation for about 5 minutes, it ought to grow to be bubbly because the yeast prompts.
2. Mix: Add to the bowl 3 cups of your bread flour, egg, butter, vanilla, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, nutmeg, and cinnamon.
3. Combine: Utilizing the dough hook attachment combine the dough on low velocity to include all of the elements and produce the dough collectively. As soon as dough has come collectively, whether it is too sticky and moist, add extra bread flour ¼ cup at a time. Then enable it to combine for a number of extra minutes on low velocity. Improve velocity to medium excessive and blend for about 3-5 minutes, this may develop the gluten.
4. Proof: Take away dough from mixer and place in a calmly greased bowl and canopy to proof till it has doubled in dimension, about 45 minutes to an hour.
5. Create Bread Varieties: Whereas the dough is resting, create two rectangular types with tin foil and place them on a sheet of parchment paper, these will assist the stollen bread to maintain it’s form whereas baking. When you have stollen bread types you should utilize these.
6. Form and Fold: When dough has doubled in dimension, dump out onto a calmly floured floor and pound to degas. Fold in your fruit and nut combination, straining out any extra juice beforehand. Then work the dough till the fruit and nut combination is evenly distributed all through the dough. Permit the dough to relaxation, lined within the bowl for an additional 10 minutes.

Including Filling and Baking

1. Add Almond Filling: Dump the dough again onto a calmly floured floor and minimize it into two equal halves. Stretch every half right into a rectangle and put aside. Take your almond paste and roll right into a rectangle between two sheets of parchment paper. Reduce the almond paste rectangle in half and place one on every rectangle of dough, barely off to at least one aspect.
2. Form and Proof: Stretch the dough over the almond paste and safe your seam on the aspect of the loaf. The seam is baked on the aspect of the loaf to create the traditional stollen bread kind. You’ll want to safe it tight. Place the shaped loaves onto your ready types on the sheet pan and canopy, enable the loaves to proof till slightly below double in dimension. Do a contact take a look at to see if the loaves are able to bake by calmly poking down every loaf about 5 instances. The pokes ought to barely spring again however nonetheless be seen. In the event that they spring again and the dough remains to be robust they want extra time, if the loaf begins to deflate once you carry out the take a look at your dough is over-proofed.
3. Bake: As soon as the loaves are prepared, bake them at 350° Fahrenheit for 40-50 minutes. I prefer to rotate the pan round after about half-hour to make sure a fair bake. You additionally could need to cowl the loaves with foil after half-hour if they’re browning too rapidly. The loaves are prepared when they’re a light-weight golden brown and temp out to 190° Fahrenheit.
4. Add Topping: Take away the loaves from the oven and brush with melted butter, as soon as the loaves have cooled a bit, mud each generously with powdered sugar.