Show me your stollen

December 14, 2011 3:59 PM

I need a good recipe for Stollen.

I'd like to make Christmas Stollen and there are about a million recipes for stollen online. Obviously there are lots of different interpretations of it and many ways to do it "right" but I want a version as authentic as possible and am not scared by multi-day processes or ingredients that may take some searching to obtain. Ideally I like the recipe to include candied orange and lemon peel since I just made a big batch of that.

posted by otherwordlyglow to food & drink (8 answers total)

I make this with my grandpa every year. My favorite variety has nut filling, and icing and streusel topping.

Czech vanočka or houska

8 cups flour
½ lb butter, softened
2 whole eggs or 4 yolks
1 cup milk ( may need more)
½ tsp grated lemon or orange rind
½ tsp each mace and nutmeg
2 cakes of yeast or 4 packets dried yeast
Raisins if desired

Place flour in large bowl. Add lemon zest, mace, nutmeg; mix. Work in butter:rub between hands until thoroughly mixed. Add eggs and sugar dissolved in warm milk. Mix in yeast dissolved in warm milk or water ( ¼ cup ). (Raisins can be mixed in) now stir or beat vigorously, until dough is stiff. Cover with warm cloth and let rise in warm area. (Chopped, blanched almonds or candied fruits can be added.)

This will make an excessive amount of dough. Each stollen can be rolled out from a glob of dough about the size of your fist. Roll the ball out with plenty of flour, folding often. Slather with melted butter, and the filling of your choice. Roll lengthwise and pinch in ends. Top with toppings of your choice. For the bakery look, dress naked areas of dough with a bit of whisked egg.
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Fillings and other ideas for the dough (sorry if it's a little rough)
Gooey Butter filling
1 stick melted butter
½ box yellow cake mix
powdered sugar
milk, to consistency of pancake batter
vanilla, nutmeg, mace to taste
cornstarch


Almond filling
buy can of paste
smash up, and thin with milk

Nut filling
whole container of pecan meal(3/4) lb
half a container of crushed graham crackers (or stale vanilla wafers, cake, or sugar cookies)
2 big spoons of Applesauce
2 medium handfuls brown sugar
1 cup milk
1 stick (completely) melted butter
heaping soup spoon of cornstarch
lots of cinnamon
2oz karo syrup

Poppy Seed
Poppy seeds from jar, big spoonful of applesauce,
cinnamon,

Pineapple (or any other fruit topping)
can crushed pineapple (and juice), sugar, cornstarch.

Streusel
1 softened stick of butter
1 cup flour
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
mix with fork until crumbly
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Other Uses:
Carmel Rolls
cover bottom of pan with brown sugar (1/8-1/4 inch thick) , melted butter, and karo syrup.
roll out dough and spread with nut filling
roll dough up into a log and pinch seam closed
slice log into rolls
place rolls in pan, and brush tops and sides liberally with melted butter
when done baking, flip out of cake pan onto cookie sheet or tray.


cheesecake
grease cake pan with melted butter
spread yeast dough in bottom of pan
spread with cheesecake filling
sprinkle with cinnamon
spread with fruit toppings
sprinkle with streusel topping
posted by notsnot at 4:28 PM on December 14, 2011 [1 favorite]

I've made the King Arthur Flour stollen, and it was great--I'm fairly sure it was this one:

Betsy's Stollen

It calls for 1 c "mixed candied fruits" which could be your orange and lemon peel (plus whatever else you'd like to add). I also added the almond filling inclusion by rolling a block of pre-made marzipan into a log and forming the dough around it.
posted by pullayup at 4:30 PM on December 14, 2011

My stollen, let me show you it. It's fairly fail-safe, but I've found I should proof the yeast in bottled water if the chlorine content of local water is too high. I lived in Germany and got the recipe from an older German lady, so it's real. ;) Good luck with it if you try it!

Stollen

Preheat oven to 375º. Makes two large loaves.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 1/2 packages active dry yeast
4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour (approximately)
1/4 c. warm water (80-100º F, or at temperature directed on yeast package)
3 eggs
1 c. butter (two sticks)
1/2 pound light raisins
1/2 pound dark raisins
1 c. sliced almonds OR 1/2 c. chopped walnuts and 1/2 c. chopped almonds
1 c. candied citrus peel
1/2 c. melted butter (for brushing loaves before and after baking)
confectioner’s sugar

Combine milk, butter, and sugar in saucepan. Heat gently until butter is melted. Cool to lukewarm. (VERY important. If butter-milk mixture is too hot, it will kill the yeast and your dough will not rise.) Measure warm water into large mixing bowl. Sprinkle on yeast, stirring until yeast is dissolved. Blend in lukewarm milk mixture and eggs. Add 2 cups of flour and beat until smooth. Add remaining flour and beat until dough is smooth and does not stick to bowl. (Add more flour if dough is sticky.) Place dough on lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes. Place dough into a large greased bowl, turning to bring greased side up. Cover with damp towel. Let rise in a warm place (85º) until doubled, from 1-2 hours. Punch down dough. Place dough on floured surface. Roll out slightly and work in the fruits and nuts. Form dough into a ball and return to bowl. Cover and let rise again for 30 min. Place dough on floured surface. Divide in half. Roll each into an oval shape, 1/4 inch thick. Fold the long side two thirds across the dough. Seal. Repeat with other half of dough. Place loaves on large baking sheet and brush with melted butter. Bake at 375º until loaves are golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Brush again with butter and sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

NOM NOM NOM
posted by sister nunchaku of love and mercy at 6:22 PM on December 14, 2011

This one from the Fresh Loaf is authentic, ditto for the other recipe she mentions in her post. The downside is both recipes require a scale and though there are gram to cup converters out there if you do try either one I'd hold back on the flour a bit since the weight of flour is influenced by its moisture content which makes it heavier or lighter and volume to go up or down depending, same goes for sugar if you decide to go with something other than white sugar.
posted by squeak at 6:31 PM on December 14, 2011

I can't speak to authenticity, but the recipe in the New Joy of Cooking is very good, and straightforward, if a bit fiddly.
posted by leahwrenn at 7:44 PM on December 14, 2011

Authentic . . .
Well, this is the one my German family makes. It's not yeast leavened and there is no marzipan felling, so the "authenticity" is questionable, but it is good and easy. It freezes well and makes a good gift. The fruits are easily substituted for what you have. I have no idea when they started making it this way or how it has changed over the years. My family happily adopts and adapts recipes.

2 1/2 cups unsifted regular all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp mace
1/8 tsp cardamon
3/4 cup ground blanched almonds
1/2 cup butter
1 cup pot cheese or cottage cheese whirled in blender
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
2 tablespoons dark rum (+ 16 oz for drinking)
1/2 cup each currants and golden raisins
1/4 cup chopped candied lemon peel
3 tbsp. melted butter
2 tbsp. vanilla sugar

To make vanilla sugar, embed a vanilla bean in a jar of granulated sugar and let it sit for a month before use. Leave it in cupboard indefinitely. Mine has been around for 6 or 8 years.
I blanch whole almonds, peel them and then grind them almost to dust (but not to paste) in a food processor or blender. You can buy blanched almonds or blanched almond slivers or slices. Use those. Do not use almonds with the skin on, it will add an unpleasant bitterness.
To make the stollen, combine flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, mace, cardamon, and almonds. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
Blend cottage cheese, egg, vanilla, almond extract, and rum. Mix in currants, raisins, and lemon peel; stir into flour mixture until all ingredients are moistened. Mold dough into a ball, place on a floured board, and knead 6-10 turns or until dough is smooth.
Roll dough out on a floured board to form an oval about 8.5 x 10 inches. With rolling pin lightly crease dough just off center, parallel to the 10-inch side. Brush dough with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Fold smaller section over the larger.
Place on an ungreased baking sheet which is covered with brown paper. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until crust is well browned and bread tests done in center. Brush with remaining butter; sprinkle with vanilla sugar.
posted by Seamus at 8:00 PM on December 14, 2011

I don't have my mom's recipe, but I know that it's best when it's has several days worth of starter going before your baking day. My main recommendation, though, is to modify to Your taste. Which is why my mom's recipe (James Beard?) has notes all over it to double the lemon and orange zest, and replace the candied fruit with dried cherries, golden raisins, and currants (soaked in OJ or something alcoholic, if you prefer), and replace the walnuts with pecans.

I may have been a very demanding child when it came to stollen, but everyone agrees that this version is really good. Also, make a lot of it - she made 26 loaves last week, and they've all been claimed.
posted by ldthomps at 10:32 AM on December 15, 2011

Ooh! Ooh! This one! THIS ONE!

It's from a 1950s German cookbook. I've been making this for three years for my German wife's family - we make a double batch (so 4 x 1kg stolle) a month before Christmas (though the first year it was a week before Christmas, and it was still great). I'm going to cut ours for this year tomorrow. I can't wait. We use an Australian candied fruit mix that's mostly orange and lemon peel, and it's wonderful, so it should be perfect for you.
posted by obiwanwasabi at 3:58 AM on December 16, 2011