Stollenbites Recipes

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.

BITE-SIZE STOLLEN (STOLLENKONFEKT)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
• To make the dough: Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and cream together until fluffy. Add the Quark, grated lemon peel, vanilla extract, and rum; beat until well combined.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and baking powder. Add to the Quark mixture and beat together until just combined. Briefly beat in the almonds and raisins.
• Using your hands, pinch off golf ball-size pieces of dough and, without overhandling them, form them into 2-inch/5cm ovals or blocks. Place them on the prepared baking sheets, leaving 1 inch/2.5 cm between them. Place one baking sheet in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the Stollen bites are a pale golden brown.Meanwhile, make the topping: Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Place the confectioners' sugar and Vanilla Sugar in a small bowl and whisk to combine.Remove the Stollen bites from the oven and slide in the second batch. Let the finished bites cool briefly, just until you can handle them. Dip each bite into the melted butter, and then toss in the confectioners' sugar mixture and place back on the baking sheet to set. Repeat with the second batch when they have baked.When the Stollen bites are completely cool, store in airtight containers, separated by pieces of waxed or parchment paper, for at least 1 day. They are best if allowed to rest for 3 to 4 days before serving. Just before serving, dust the bites again with a fresh layer of sifted confectioners' sugar. The bites will keep in an airtight container for at least 10 days and up to 3 weeks.

STOLLEN BITES RECIPE - (4.4/5)

Steps:

• Sponge: Mix ingredients together and set aside for 1 hour, or for up to 4 hours. Fruit: Mix ingredients together and set aside to allow the fruit to absorb the liquor. Dough: Combine the sponge and the dough ingredients (except for the almonds), and mix and knead to make a soft, shiny, elastic dough. Towards the end, knead in the soaked fruits (along with any liquid) and almonds. Allow the dough to rise, covered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide it into 40 pieces, rolling each piece into a ball. Place the balls on a greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, leaving about 1-inch between them. Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes, until the balls are puffy. Bake the stollen bites in a preheated 350°F oven for about 18 minutes, until they're light brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes. Toss stollen in the melted butter, then the confectioners' sugar. Allow to cool completely before wrapping and storing. Stollen bites keep well for a week at room temperature; freeze for longer storage. Toss with confectioners' sugar again just before serving, if desired. Note: Because of stollen's high sugar content, we find you'll make a better loaf by beginning with an overnight sponge. This bubbly mixture of yeast, flour and water is a good base upon which the sugar, milk, and butter-rich stollen can successfully grow.

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.

PAUL HOLLYWOOD'S STOLLEN

Steps:

• Put the flour and sugar in a large bowl. Add the yeast on one side of the bowl and the salt on the other. Add the softened butter and 200ml of the milk and stir together. Add the remaining milk and knead well on a generously floured surface for 6-7 minutes, until smooth and pliable.
• Mix together the nutmeg, cloves, vanilla and almond extracts, almonds, dried fruit and mixed peel in a bowl. Add the dough on top and knead from the outside into the centre. When everything has been fully incorporated, return to the bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for 1-1½ hours in a warm place, until doubled in size.
• Flatten the dough and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a rectangle about 45cm x 35cm. Brush with the melted butter. Roll out the marzipan to about 25cm x 15cm and place on top of the dough. Roll the dough up to enclose the marzipan and transfer to a lined baking sheet. Cover and leave to rise for 45 minutes-1 hour, until risen and doubled in size.
• Pre-heat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/375°F/Gas 5 and bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven, brush with melted butter, and dust with icing sugar. Serve cold.

STOLLEN BITES

Steps:

• Starter:.
• Mix flour and yeast in a medium bowl. Add water and mix, let sit for 1/2 hour to an hour.
• Fruit:.
• Mix together and set aside to allow fruit to absorb the liquor.
• Dough:.
• Combine starter and dough ingredients, except almonds. Mix and knead to make a soft, shiny, elastic dough. towards the end, knead in the fruits (along with any liquid) and almonds. Allow to rise covered for 1-1/2 to 2 hours. Turn dough onto surface and divide into 40 pieces, roll each into ball. Place on parchment-lined sheets. Cover and let rise for about 45 minutes. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 18 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool 10 minutes. Toss with melted butter and then confectioner's sugar. Cool completely before wrapping and storing. Keep well for a week at room temperature. Freeze for longer storage.
• Note: I added some almond paste and put pieces in the middle of the balls before putting to rise the second time. Also, I used the green candied cherries for good color.