Christstollen is delicious German Christmas bread with a long history. It goes back to early 15th century, although the ingredients they used were slightly different. Because of fasting during the Advent season, no one could use butter, so they had to use oil.
Back in the day there was no Eataly, so most oil was rather expensive, and hard to find. This went double for the middle of winter in Germany, so the baker’s had to use oil pressed from turnips, and the bread was studded the various body parts of unconverted children. All in all, it wasn’t very good (I’m not a fan of turnips, unless they’re mashed). Then, a bunch of popes died, and someone lifted the ban on butter, and Paula Deen’s ancestors were born.
One thing I absolutely love about stollen is that you can really personalize it. Mine comes with raisi. . ahem, sultanas (since some of you are abnormally raisin adverse), currants, candied peel, and is filled with a delicious lemony almond paste. That being said, I’ve made it with candied ginger, and I’ve heard of people using marzipan for the filling. I’d love to make one with dried pears and apricots, as well as using candied ginger. So, if you have some sort of weird thing against raisins, you could totally switch those out for something else. Maybe some dried apples or whatever your weird little heart desires. The point is that it’s supposed to have *something* in the bread. My friend’s grandmother said that the fruit in a slice of stollen should look like a stained glass window in a church, topped with a pile of snow.
Final note, don’t freak out by the ingredient list or the length of the instructions. Making this is deceptively hard. The most difficult part will be kneading the bread, if you’re a beginner. Other than that, it’s just making sure you do everything in the right order. You can even rum the raisins and make the paste while the dough rises. This will be a little time consuming, but most of that will be sitting around waiting for the dough to rise. It’s a good thing to put on a long movie you don’t have to pay attention to, or it can even be a “family” thing if you have guests, and can stand to be in the same room as your relatives. Or you can decide to recreate the original recipe, sans turnips.
Bread
- ½ cup of golden raisins (sultanas for some of you)
- ¼ cup of currants
- 3 tbsp rum (you can use any sort of booze. I used St. Germain)
- 3 ¼ cups unbleached white flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup of caster sugar (I used confectioner’s sugar)
- ¼ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 ½ oz fresh yeast (I have no idea if you have access to fresh yeast. Sometimes bakeries sell it. If you can’t, there should be a conversion on the dry yeast package. If you can find it, fresh yeast make everything smell like you’re REALLY baking and is rather fun to work with.)
- ½ cup lukewarm milk
- ¼ cup melted butter
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 1/3 cup candied peel see this recipe (note: any citrus peel can be used. Just make sure to remove the white part)
- 1/3 cup of blanched almonds, chopped
- Melted butter, for brushing
- Confectioner’s sugar, for dusting
Almond Filing
- 1 cup ground almonds
- ¼ cup of confectioner’s sugar
- ½ cup of sugar
- ½ tsp lemon juice
- ½ egg, lightly beaten
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the raisins and currants in a heatproof bowl and warm for 3-4 minutes. Cover with the booze and set aside (You can totally do this later on when the dough is rising, but I do find this allows for maximum soakage if the fruits sit). Turn off oven, but make sure to not let too much of the heat out.
Sift the flour and salt together in a large bowl. Take out about 1 ¼ a cup of flour and set it aside (we’ll get to that later). Stir in the sugar and spices.
Mix the yeast with the milk until dissolved/creamy. Make a well in the flour (don’t go all the way to the bottom, though) and pour in the yeast/milk. Mix this with a bit of the flour from the side until you create a gloopy batter in the middle of the flour. Dust with a small bit of flour, and then cover with clear film and set aside for 30 minutes.
Add the beaten egg and melted butter and start mixing. Remember the flour you set aside? Add this, a little bit at a time, as well. It’s highly likely you won’t need the whole thing (I learned this after using the EXACT measurements in recipes and ending up with a powdery mess instead of dough). Dump the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for 10ish minutes. You basically want to knead until the dough feels “Springy and elastic”. If this is your first time baking, I bet you have no idea what that means. Basically, the dough should feel like cold, lumpy flesh, and if you press lightly, it should spring back, rather then leaving an indent.
Place this in an oiled bowl and cover with oiled saran wrap. Let it rise in a warm, dry place for 2 hours, or until doubled in bulk. I like using the already warm oven (thinking ahead!). Also, now is a good time to do the fruits if you haven’t already. Need help with kneading? Here’s a video.
Filling: While you’re waiting for the dough to rise, you can make the filling! Mix the almonds and sugar together. Add the lemon juice and enough of the egg to make a thick paste. The original recipe calls for you to make a sausage, but I find leaving it in the bowl and using it as a spread later works better.
Dump the dough back onto a lightly floured surface and punch down. Flatten the dough out into a large rectangle, about an inch thick. Sprinkle the fruits, nuts and mixed peel. Fold the dough and knead for a few minutes, just to incorporate the mix-ins. Note: this will make a slightly sticky mess. If the dough becomes too sticky, add a pinch of flour while you knead.
Once the mix-ins have been incorporated, roll the dough into a football shape about 12 inches long. Make sure the edges are thinner then the center. Spread the almond filling in the lower half of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover the paste, but don’t bring the top edge all the way over. You want to leave a little bit of room so you get that “baby in swaddling clothes” look. Or like a lopsided giant empanada.
Lightly grease a baking sheet and cover with a lightly oiled film and let rise for 45-60 minutes. *pro-tip- Another way to do this is cover the dough, and stick in the in the fridge overnight. I’ve recently started doing this and it makes for a sweeter bread.
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Bake for about 30 minutes. Do keep an eye on it. My oven runs hot, so 27 minutes is just about right. You want the crust to be golden brown, and if you, carefully, pick up the bread and knock on the bottom, it should sound hollow. Brush the top with melted butter and move to a wire rack to cool. Dust with powdered sugar to complete.
Top image: Flickr
