Christmas Stollen
Ingredients
- ⅓ cup rum
- 1 cup candied orange peel
- ⅔ cup blanched slivered almonds
- 1½ cup raisins
- 1 cup warm whole milk (not exceeding 90°F)
- 1 Tbsp active dry yeast
- ½ cup granulated sugar (divided into ⅛ cup and ⅜ cup)
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 large egg, 2 large egg yolks
- ¾ cup butter, room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1-7 oz box Odense Marzipan
- 1 stick butter, unsalted, melted
- Powdered sugar for dusting
A festive and flavorful holiday treat that’s fun to make, stores well, and brings the taste of Christmas to your table.
Time
4 hours
Yield
2 loaves
Directions
- In a medium bowl, mix together the rum, candied orange peel, slivered almonds, and raisins. Set aside to soak while you make the dough.
- Stir the warm milk, yeast, and ⅛ cup sugar and let sit for 10 minutes.
- Once the yeast mixture is nice and bubbly, pour it into the bottom of your stand mixer bowl. Then add the rest of the sugar (⅜ cup), all-purpose flour, eggs and yolks, room temperature butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg.
- With the dough hook, mix on low for 10 minutes, then on medium-low for 30 minutes.
- Once done mixing, cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size, around an hour or two depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
- Check on your fruit and nut mixture, if all the liquid has not been absorbed, pour the rest of the liquid out.
- Punch down the dough and add the soaked fruit and nuts to the stand mixer bowl. With a dough hook, mix on low until it is all combined. If you think the dough is too wet, add a little bit more flour.
- Flour a work surface and cut the dough into two equal pieces. Using your hands or a rolling pin, shape each piece into a long oval that is 1 in thick.
- Split the marzipan in two and roll into logs that are the same length as the dough.
- Place the logs in the middle of the ovals. Fold the left side all the way over the marzipan. Fold the right side over with just the edge on top of the marzipan. Make a divot with the pinky side edge of your hand along the right side of the marzipan.
- Place the two loaves on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for about an hour until puffy. If your kitchen is very warm, it might take only 40 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F for when the loaves will be done rising. Bake the loaves for 40-45 minutes until golden brown.
- Once done baking, brush loaves with melted butter and sift the powdered sugar generously over the top. Let cool completely then enjoy!
- Loaves can be eaten immediately or wrapped air-tight and stored for up to 2 weeks.