Stollen (German Fruit Bread)
Stollen is a sweet German bread filled with fruits & nuts, typically eaten during the Christmas season. But it’s not that we can’t have this lovely bread at any other time, you can bake and eat them at home all-around year.
Servings: 6
Ingredients
Dried fruit, candied fruit & spices
- 100 g dried fruits
- 30 g candied peel finely chopped
- 2 tbsp rum
For the dough
- 300 g strong white flour bread flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 50 g sugar
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 5 g instant yeast
- 200 ml whole milk lukewarm
- 50 g unsalted butter softened
- prepared fruit mixture
- 50 g nuts chopped
To serve
- 30 g unsalted butter melted
- 30 g icing sugar
Instructions
- Place the dried fruits and candied peel in a bowl. Pour the rum and stir to combine. Let the fruit mixture soak in the rum overnight. If there is excess liquid, remove it before adding the mixture to the dough.
- Combine all the dough ingredients (except the fruit, candied peel, and nuts if using), and mix and knead them together — by hand, mixer, or bread machine — until you’ve made a smooth and elastic dough. Now add the softened butter and continue kneading until the butter is completely incorporated and the dough is smooth, shiny, and elastic
- Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until nearly doubled.
- Once doubled in size, remove the dough to a lightly floured surface and punch down. I divided the dough into two equal parts. If you like to make one big bread you don’t need to divide the dough. (The baking duration for large stollen bread will be slightly longer, so adjust the time as needed)
- Flatten the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Sprinkle the soaked fruit/candied peel, and nuts over the surface. If there is excess liquid, remove it before adding the fruit mixture to the dough.
- Knead until the fruit is incorporated into the dough. Shape the dough into a ball. Cover and leave to rest for about 10 minutes.
- Flatten the dough out on a baking sheet to an oval. At this point, place the stollen on the baking sheet that is also going into the oven. This will help you to shape the dough and handle it the easy way.
- Fold half of the dough over the other half but the top half should not completely overlap the one under. (as shown in the picture below)
- When we fold the dough one over the other, the top part will stay closed and not completely overlap the one under.
- Cover the stollen loosely and leave to rise for 40-60 minutes in a warm place, until risen and doubled in size.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C. Remove any raisins that stick out of the dough as they will burn during baking. Bake the stollen for 30-40 minutes or until golden. Remove from the oven, and generously brush them with the melted butter while still warm.
- When the bread is completely cooled, dust it generously with powdered sugar. if we use powdered sugar when it is warm, it will easily dissolve with the butter.
- Slice the Stollen thinly. Serve and Enjoy!