Christmas Stollen

Candied fruit is not popular around here, so this German Stollen is made with nuts, raisins, maraschino cherries and dried fruit. The middle has a homemade almond paste filling which adds a subtle creamy sweet treat to the already delicious loaf.
I love the taste and texture of Kamut and spelt flour, although in this recipe I used only ½ cup of the kamut flour just enough to add a little texture and flavour to the Stollen.

Because of all the nuts and raisins in the bread you won’t see much rising going on here and too much Kamut will turn out a denser bread which doesn’t rise much to begin with. For anyone that prefers the candied fruit, see below for the variations. You can mix and match whatever you like for the fruit, just keep the total amounts somewhat close.

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5 from 1 vote

Christmas Stollen

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: German

Keyword: bread, candied fruit, fruit bread, stollen

Servings: 2 loaves

Ingredients

• Fruit and Nuts Filling:
• 1 ⅓ cups almonds toasted and chopped
• ¾ cup dried berries (cranberries, or cherries or both)
• ½ cup maraschino cherries
• 1 ½ cups raisins
• 3 tablespoons dark Rum or Grand Marnier or orange juice
• –
• FOR THE STARTER SPONGE:
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• ¼ cup warm water about 110 degrees F
• ⅔ cup warm milk
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• –
• FOR THE REST OF THE DOUGH:
• ⅓ cup honey
• 1 large egg beaten
• 1 cup melted butter
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon orange zest
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground mace
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla flavoring
• 1 teaspoon almond flavoring
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• –
• EXTRAS:
• ½ cup all-purpose flour for kneading
• ½ cup butter for brushing
• ½ pound Almond Paste or Marzipan
• –
• TOPPING:
• ¾ cup icing sugar or more as needed

Instructions

• Soak raisins and dried fruit with rum for at least a couple hours. Overnight would be the best.
• Mix up the starter, cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 40 minutes. It will bubble during this time.
• Mix together everything in the ‘For the Dough’ section either by hand or with dough hook and mixer. After a few minutes add starter, mix until well blended. Add nuts, raisins and dried fruit along with the liquid, mix a few more minutes.
• Knead on counter with ½ cup flour for a couple minutes. Make a ball, put dough in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour.
• Divide dough in half. Flatten out into a rectangle approximately 11 x 8 inch. If using some fresh red fruits, sprinkle on top of rolled out dough.
• Divide almond paste in half make 2 strips about 11 x 3 inch, lay along center of each loaf.
• Fold long side of dough towards center, fold opposite side on top of first side. (See image)
• Cover each loaf with plastic wrap, let rise 1 ½ to 2 hours.
• Double up 2 cookie sheets, this will keep the bottom from browning quicker than the top.
• Bake at °350F for 30 minutes. If ends are getting darker than the middle, cover ends with aluminum foil. Remove from baking sheets and let cool on wire rack. Brush generously with ½ cup butter while still hot. Sprinkle liberally with icing sugar when still warm.
• Variations – frozen or fresh cranberries and/or cherries can be used. Gently work in the red berries at the end when making the final shape, or the red berries will stain the dough pink.
• For those of you who like candied fruit – omit the dried berries and maraschinos cherries. Replace the same amount with your favourite candied lemon and/or orange peel fruit to equal 1 cup.

Notes

*Once all the fruit and liquid is added to dough, the second rise will take much longer. Dough may take longer than 2 hours to see a noticeable rise. Once a rise is noticeable after the 2 hours the Stollen can be baked as it will rise up some more in the oven.

*Difference between almond paste and marzipan.

In this recipe there isn’t a noticeable difference between the two. Although, almond paste has more nuts and marzipan has more sugar. Use the one you can find.