Christmas Stollen With Icing Recipes

STOLLEN

Steps:

• Whisk together flour, granulated sugar, salt, mace, and nutmeg in a large bowl. Stir in milk and melted butter. Add dissolved yeast and the eggs. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth.
• Drain raisins and currants. Add raisins, currants, almonds, citron, orange peel, apricots, and lemon zest to dough, and continue kneading until incorporated, about 10 minutes. If dough is sticky, knead in more flour.
• Transfer dough to a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with plastic, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, 1 to 2 hours. Punch down dough, divide into 6 even pieces, and roll each piece into a 15-inch-long log. Braid 3 logs together, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining 3 logs. Cover with plastic, and let rise until doubled in volume, about 2 hours more.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake stollen until golden brown, 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Beat together confectioners' sugar and milk. Drizzle stollen with icing just before serving.

TRADITIONAL STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, butter, sugar, eggs, lemon zest, salt and 3 cups flour. Add the raisins, candied fruit and almonds. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1-1/2 hours. , Punch dough down and divide in half; cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll or press each half into a 12x7-in. oval. Fold a long side over to within 1 in. of opposite side; press edge lightly to seal. Place on greased baking sheets; curve ends slightly. Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 1 hour. , Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Combine confectioners' sugar and enough milk to achieve desired consistency; spread over stollen.

BEST AUTHENTIC STOLLEN (GERMAN CHRISTMAS BREAD)

Steps:

• Place the raisins, candied citrus peel and almonds in a medium bowl and pour the rum over it. Stir to combine. Set aside and let the fruit mixture soak in the rum while the dough rises.
• Stir the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and let sit in a warm place for 10-15 minutes until very frothy.
• Place the flour, remaining sugar, egg, egg yolks, butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, mace and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Add the yeast/milk mixture. Use a spoon to stir the mixture until it comes together. Knead the dough on the bread setting for 7-8 minutes. Remove the dough ball, lightly spray the bowl with a little oil, return the dough ball, cover loosely with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place or lightly warmed oven (just barely warm), to rise until nearly doubled in size, at least 1 hour (likely closer to 2 hours depending on the temperature of the environment).
• Punch down the dough and add the soaked fruit/nut mixture to the dough (it should have absorbed all the rum by now but if there is excess liquid, pour it out before adding the mixture to the dough). Using the dough hook, knead the fruit/nut mixture into the dough until combined. If the dough is too wet to handle, add a little bit of flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
• Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it in two equal halves. Press or roll each piece into an oval to about 1 inch thickness. Roll each piece of marzipan into a log the length of the oval. Press the marzipan gently into the middle of the dough. Fold the left side of the dough over to cover the marzipan, then fold right side over on top of the left side so that the edge of it sits just left of the middle of the stollen (see pics). In other words, don't fold the right side all the way over to the left edge of the stollen. Pinch and tuck the top and bottom ends of the stollen to cover the marzipan. Use the bottom edge of your hand to press down along the length of the stollen towards the right of the center to create a divot and characteristic hump (see pics). Place the stollen on a lined baking sheet. Cover the stollen loosely with plastic wrap and let them rest in a warm place or lightly warmed oven for 40-60 minutes until puffy. At that point you can pick off any raisins that are sticking out of the dough (they will burn during baking).
• Towards the end of the last rise, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the stollen for 30-40 minutes or until golden. You can use an instant read thermometer to aim for an internal temperature of 190 degrees F. Let the Stollen sit for 5 minutes, then use a toothpick to poke holes all over the stollen (this will allow the butter to seep in), then generously brush the stollen with the melted butter while the stollen are still warm. Immediately sprinkle with a generous amount of powdered sugar, rubbing it into the creases and down the sides. Let the stollen cool completely. You may want to give it another dusting of powdered sugar once cooled.
• The stollen can be sliced and eaten now or wrapped tightly (wrap in plastic wrap then foil) and left to "ripen" in a cool place for 2 weeks. The liquid from the dried fruits will further penetrate the dough for more flavor and moisture. Stollen can also be frozen for longer storage.
• Makes 2 large or 3 medium Stollen.For eating, I like to warm the slices up for a few seconds in the microwave, it makes the crumb nice and soft.

NANA'S CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

Steps:

• Scald milk. Add sugar, butter, and salt, and cool to lukewarm. Add 2 whole eggs, and 2 yolks. Mix.
• Add to 3 cups flour and yeast in food processor. Process and let rise until double.
• Add cardamom, raisins, citron, and cherries, and rest of flour. Process and put on floured board and knead. Let rise in greased bowl.
• When risen, cut into 3-4 pieces. Roll each into an oval, butter, and fold in half lengthwise. Put on greased baking sheet, cover, and let rise until double.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 25 minutes.
• Remove to rack. When cool, frost with white butter frosting and decorate with candied cherry halves and sprinkle with colored sugar.

ICED CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the milk, sugar, butter, eggs, lemon zest, cardamom, salt, mace and 3 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). Stir in the cherries, almonds, raisins, pineapple and citron., Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour., Punch dough down. Turn onto a floured surface. Divide into four portions. Shape each into a 12x7-in. oval. Fold long side over to within 1/2-in. of opposite side; press edges lightly to seal. Place 5 in. apart on lightly greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 30 minutes., Bake at 350° for 22-28 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to wire racks to cool., For icing, in a small bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, milk, butter, vanilla and salt. Drizzle over stollens.

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

Steps:

• In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm milk. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
• In a large bowl, combine the yeast mixture with the egg, white sugar, salt, butter, and 2 cups bread flour; beat well. Add the remaining flour, 1/4 cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has begun to pull together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead in the currants, raisins, dried cherries, and citrus peel. Continue kneading until smooth, about 8 minutes.
• Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
• Lightly grease a cookie sheet. Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll the marzipan into a rope and place it in the center of the dough. Fold the dough over to cover it; pinch the seams together to seal. Place the loaf, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), and bake for a further 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Allow loaf to cool on a wire rack. Dust the cooled loaf with confectioners' sugar, and sprinkle with the cinnamon.

GERMAN CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a medium bowl, soak the raisins, candied fruit, and almonds in the rum overnight, stirring occasionally.
• In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in 1/2 cup of the warm milk with a pinch of sugar.
• Proof for 10 minutes, or until bubbles form.
• Mix 4 cups of the flour with the yeast mixture, egg, remaining 3/4 cup milk, 1/3 cup of sugar, lemon zest, vanilla, and salt using a spoon or in a stand mixer with the dough hook for several minutes. The dough should just come together and not be very smooth yet. Remove from the bowl and set aside.
• Cream 14 tablespoons of the softened butter and the remaining 2/3 cup of flour with the nutmeg and cardamom until smooth. Switch to the paddle attachment if using a stand mixer.
• Add yeast dough mixture to the creamed mixture and begin mixing with the paddle beater until incorporated and a dough begins to form. Switch to the dough hook and continue beating until the dough is smooth.
• Let the dough rest, covered, for 30 minutes.
• Turn dough out onto a tabletop or lightly floured board. Knead in the rum-soaked fruit and almonds. Let rest for 15 minutes.
• Return the dough to the floured board and form into a rectangle with 2 high sides and a dip in the middle. Fold one-third of the dough over to the middle, filling the dip. Pat into a stollen shape.
• Fold a piece of aluminum foil several times on the 2 long ends to build walls for the stollen, so it holds the shape while baking. You may also use a stollen pan if you have one.
• Let the stollen rise for 30 minutes in a warm place. Heat the oven to 350 F.
• Dot the top of the stollen with the remaining 1 tablespoon softened butter. Bake loaves for 45 to 55 minutes, or until loaves are golden and done, about 190 F in the center. Cover with foil if it begins to brown too much.
• Brush warm loaf with the melted butter and dust thickly with confectioners' sugar . Cool on a rack.
• Wrap tightly in foil and keep in a cool place for two to three weeks to ripen.

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN WITH ICING

Steps:

• Sponge
• Stir 1 1/2 teaspoons lukewarm milk, 1 1/2 teaspoons lukewarm water and 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar in large bowl. Add yeast and stir until smooth. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Add 2 2/3 cups flour and remaining lukewarm milk and mix well. Cover and let sponge rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour 30 minutes.
• Dough
• Mix 3 tablespoons flour with raisins, slivered almonds and candied fruit in medium bowl. Using a stand mixer with the mixing paddle, beat 1 cup unsalted butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, 1 teaspoon vanilla and salt. Beat in sponge. Stir in fruit and nuts. Stir in remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time. The dough should be slightly sticky. Replace the mixer paddle with the dough hook. Knead the dough for 3-5 minutes, until it is smooth and elastic. Lightly oil a large bowl. Add dough, turning to coat entire surface. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 2 1/2 hours. Place a Silpat mat or parchment paper on a large baking sheet. Punch dough down. Divide dough in half. Pat each half into 10" x 16" oval. Fold in half lengthwise to form a 5" x 16" loaf. Place seam side down on the prepared baking sheet. Cover and let rise in warm draft-free area until almost double in volume, about 2 hours. Position racks in lower and upper thirds of oven and preheat to 325°F. Switch the positions of the loaves after 30 minutes. Bake for 1 hour, until loaves are golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on bottom. Transfer to a baking rack and cool slightly.
• Icing
• In a small saucepan over low heat, warm 1/4 cup unsalted butter and 4 tablespoons water, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted and the liquid is gently simmering. Remove the pan from the heat. Sift the confectioners' sugar into the pan and mix with a rubber spatula until the icing is thick and creamy. Mix in the remaining teaspoon vanilla. Drizzle the icing over each stollen and spread to cover each loaf. Let the icing set for about 10 minutes.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.

GLUTEN FREE STOLLEN

Steps:

• Warm the milk in a mug in the microwave until it is around 40'C (using a food thermometer is the best way for this - but if you don't have one it should feel warm, not hot). Add 10g of the sugar and the yeast, stir and set aside for 5 minutes for the yeast to activate. It should form a frothy head like on a pint of beer (see notes if this doesn't happen).
• Add the flour, xanthan gum, remaining sugar, mixed spice, dried fruit and ground almonds to a large mixing bowl and stir well with a spatula or wooden spoon to ensure they're full combined.
• Melt the butter in a microwave. Pour into the flour mix along with the yeast/milk mixture and the two eggs. Mix the ingredients well until they start to form a sticky dough - start with a wooden spoon or spatula and then get your hands in to knead the dough together.
• Cover the mixing bowl with a tea-towel or clingfilm, and leave the dough in a warm place to prove for around 40-60 minutes. It won't rise much but should expand a little.
• Once the dough has proved, preheat the oven to 180'C / Fan 160'C / Gas Mark 4. Turn the dough out onto a piece of clingfilm, place another piece on top and roll the dough into a rectangle measuring approximately 30cm x 25cm. Remove the top piece of clingfilm.
• Roll the marzipan out into a rectangle approximately 30cm x 12cm and then place on the centre of the dough. Gently bring the edges of the dough over the top so they meet in the centre of the marzipan (using the clingfilm to help) and pinch them together on top and on each end, so that the marzipan is completely sealed in.
• Place the stollen onto a baking tray (seal side down) and bake for approximately 25 minutes, until golden on top. Once cooked, remove from the oven, place on a wire rack to cool and brush with the remaining 20g of melted butter, while it's still warm.
• Leave to cool, then sprinkle generously with icing sugar and cut into slices to serve. Store in a sealed container.