German Christmas Stollen

A rich, fruit-studded Christmas bread with almonds and a marzipan centre, buttered and dusted with icing sugar.

TIME BREAKDOWN
Prep: 3h 30m
Cook: 55 min
Total: 4 hours 25 minutes
Vegetarian
✅
Nuts
✅
Serves
16 people
Difficulty
Hard

Ingredients

  • 150g raisins
  • 100g currants
  • 75g mixed candied peel
  • 75g dried cranberries or cherries
  • 4 tbsp dark rum
  • 500g strong white bread flour
  • 7g fast-action dried yeast
  • 75g caster sugar
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
  • Zest of 1 lemon and 1 orange
  • 200ml lukewarm whole milk
  • 150g butter, softened
  • 75g flaked almonds, toasted
  • 200g marzipan, rolled into a log
  • To finish: 100g melted butter and 150g icing sugar

Method

  1. Soak the raisins, currants, peel and cranberries in the rum for at least 4 hours or overnight.

  2. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, cinnamon, cardamom and zests. Add the milk and butter and knead for 10 minutes until smooth. Cover and rise for 1 hour 15 minutes.

  3. Knead in the soaked fruit, any remaining rum and the almonds. Rest for 20 minutes.

  4. Roll the dough into a 25 x 30cm oval. Place the marzipan log along the centre and fold one side over, pressing the edge to seal, making the classic stollen shape.

  5. Place on a lined baking tray, cover and leave for 30 minutes. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan).

  6. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until deep golden, covering with foil if it browns too fast.

  7. While still hot, brush generously with the melted butter and dust thickly with icing sugar. Cool completely, wrap and leave for 3 days for the flavour to mature before slicing.