This Christmas Stollen recipe comes from the handwritten cookbook of my great-grandmother Jenny (1883-1940). It consists of equal parts sultanas and currants. While sultanas are often produced in Turkey from the light, thin-skinned Sultana grapes, the smaller, dark purple to black grapes of the Korinthiaki variety, which originally came from Greece, specifically the area around Corinth, are used for currants. This Stollen is characterized by an incredible juiciness. Usually it should rest for a few days after baking before consumption so that all ingredients can give off their aroma. It can be kept in a large biscuit tin for up to four weeks before it gets too dry. As a typical Christmasbread, the Stollen goes back at least to the first half of the 14th century. In Dresden it appears for the first time in an invoice from the hospital of Saint Bartholomew, where it says that in 1474 the Christmas Stollen was given to the poor as a Christmas gift. The term Stollen also means post, support. So nowadays the Stollen stands for the baby Jesus wrapped in diapers as the supporting force of the Christian faith.
750 grams of flour (type 550)
500 grams of butter, soft
250 grams of sultanas
250 grams of currants
125 grams of lemon peel
250 grams of raw cane sugar
500 millilitres of milk
80 grams of fresh yeast
Additional butter for brushing
Cinnamon and sugar mixture
Icing sugar or fine white sugar
1. Sift the flour into a large bowl.
2. Put the crumbled yeast in a well in the middle of the flour and mix with some of the lukewarm milk to form a soft dough.
3. Now mix in the butter, sultanas, currants, lemon peel, and the rest of the milk with a wooden spoon.
4. Let the dough rise in a warm place covered with a kitchen towel.
5. After it has risen, shape one, two, or even three loaves of bread. To do so, form a rather rectangular loaf and roll it out with the rolling pin from the inside out, so that two large dough bulges remain on the left and right. Briefly press the right bulge with the rolling pin and fold the left bulge over into this hollow. Press the left-hand side lightly in again with the rolling pin so that the typical shape of the Stollen is created.
6. Brush the Christmas Stollen with melted butter and sprinkle with a cinnamon & sugar mixture.
7. Bake in the preheated oven at 200° C for 1 1 1/2 hours. Please note that the smaller the loaves, the shorter the baking time!!
8. If necessary, cover the stollen loosely with baking parchment or aluminum foil after 1 hour so that it does not turn too brown.
9. After baking, coat the Stollen again with melted butter and sprinkle thickly with icing sugar or fine white sugar so that it looks white.
Tip: With yeast dough, it helps to do the thumb test. Press gently into the baked dough with your thumb and it will spring back into its original position if it is baked through. If it doesn't do that, leave it in the oven for a few minutes longer.
Instagram
Facebook