Christmas butter pie stolle recipe. Step-by-step recipe with photos and videos

What is stollen and what does it represent? This is a baked product based on yeast dough (very, very rich), which I suggest making using the sponge method. The result is a huge, soft and very flavorful loaf (in this case, even two) with a lot of delicious additives. Stollen should definitely be prepared 3-4 weeks before Christmas, as it is important for these baked goods to ripen. Only then will you be able to enjoy its unique taste, rich aroma and pleasant texture.

I didn’t want to write a long introduction, but I just can’t stop at the ingredients. The amount of wheat flour for this baking may differ greatly from that indicated - it depends on many factors (in particular the moisture content of the flour). However, too much flour will make the baked goods too rough and tough. Be sure to use high-fat butter for yeast dough - no margarine, spread or the like! For stollen, only high-quality products are needed and important, all the best that you have in your kitchen.

About yeast: this is exactly the case when I insist on using fresh (pressed, wet). Of course, in the absence of them, you can choose fast-acting or dry ones (exactly 3 times less, that is, 11-12 grams), but personally it seems to me that the result will not be so impressive. Live yeast is live... When buying fresh, always check the dates, open and smell the briquette - it should have a characteristic pleasant aroma.

And a little more about fillers. The rich yeast dough for Christmas stollen includes a large number of all kinds of tasty additives. I offer only those that our family loves, and you use your favorites, just focus on the total weight (400 grams). Nuts are also entirely your choice. In addition, you can safely flavor the dough with citrus zest or your favorite spices, which will undoubtedly enrich the taste of the finished stollen.

Ingredients:

Opara:

Yeast dough:

(550 grams) (200 grams) (100 milliliters) (100 grams) (2 pieces ) (2 tablespoons ) (0.5 teaspoon) (0.5 teaspoon) (0.25 teaspoon) (0.25 teaspoon) (0.25 teaspoon)

Fillers:

Sprinkles:

Cooking the dish step by step with photos:

I deliberately divided all the products needed to prepare the Christmas stollen into groups in the ingredients, since there are many of them, and in a step-by-step photograph I will simply show how everything looks. So, we will need premium wheat flour, high-quality butter (at least 72% fat), milk of any fat content, granulated sugar, powdered sugar and vanilla sugar, candied fruits, raisins, almonds, hazelnuts, orange juice, cognac, pressed yeast , chicken eggs, salt. In addition, for spices (in dry ground form) I suggest using cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg.

Since we will prepare the yeast dough for stollen with a large amount of butter, we will make it using the sponge method. We are preparing the dough - in this case it will be liquid. You may be asking what a dough is and what it is needed for. I won’t write long and hard, but the point is that this is a semi-finished product that is used for baking bread and other bakery products and increases the plasticity of the dough. In other words, this mixture of flour, liquid and yeast helps to achieve a more tender and porous crumb, as well as a richer taste and aroma of the finished baked goods. Pour 100 milliliters of lukewarm milk into a bowl of suitable volume (at least 1 liter) and dissolve 30 grams of sugar in it. Crumble fresh yeast (35 grams) into the milk and mix everything thoroughly so that it is completely dissolved in the liquid.

Mix everything with a spoon or fork until the flour is completely moistened and there are no dry lumps left. There is no need to stir for a long time - just until it is relatively homogeneous. You should get a runny dough, which in consistency resembles pancake dough. Leave the dough in a warm place for 30-40 minutes for the yeast to start working.

In the meantime, we will prepare the filler for future stollen. In general, it can be almost any dried nuts or fruits that you like best, so you can select them according to your taste, but focus on the total weight - 300 grams. In this case, I use seedless raisins, dried cranberries and multi-colored candied pineapple (chop them with a knife so that the pieces are the size of raisins). Be sure to rinse and dry the cranberries and raisins in advance - you never know where and how they were stored. We put everything in a bowl and fill it with orange juice (not store-bought, but squeezed from fresh orange) and cognac. It is not necessary to use cognac - any strong alcohol with a rich, pleasant aroma (for example, rum or brandy) will do. If you don't like alcohol in baked goods (although it will all evaporate, leaving only the aroma), you can omit it and replace it with the same amount of orange juice. We leave the dried fruits on the table so that they absorb the aromatic liquid and become soft (this can be done the day before - even a day or two in advance - and stored in the refrigerator).

Next, let's prepare the nuts. I recommend peeling sweet almonds (50 grams). To do this, pour the nuts into a deep bowl and pour boiling water over them so that the liquid completely covers the nuts. Leave for 10 minutes so that the water cools down a little.

Thanks to the warm “bath”, the nut skin will swell and will easily come away from the kernels. Now you can peel the almonds. This is done very simply and quite quickly - hold the nut between the fingers of one hand, pick out a piece of skin with the other and simply press on the nut. Just be careful: almond kernels are slippery, they literally jump out of the skin and can fly far.

Next, the peeled almonds need to be dried and browned - this will make the nuts more crunchy and fragrant. Drying methods vary, but it is most convenient to dry a small amount in the microwave. Just be careful not to let them burn.

During this time the dough arrived. A sign that the dough has fermented will be its appearance. The dough will greatly increase in volume, become even thinner, it will be riddled with bubbles and will begin to settle.

Pour the dough into a large bowl in which the yeast dough for Christmas stollen will ferment. Add to the dough 100 grams of granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons of vanilla sugar, half a teaspoon of salt, 100 milliliters of lukewarm milk and a couple of chicken eggs at room temperature.

Mix everything with your hand or a spoon, then sift 550 grams of premium wheat flour into a bowl. Let me remind you once again that the amount of flour may differ significantly from that indicated, as it depends on the moisture content of the product. You can first add 500 grams of flour, after which you will look at the consistency of the dough. Don't forget about aromatic spices - add cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg.

Mix the dough with your hands so that the flour is moistened and absorbs the liquid ingredients. After this, we begin to add soft butter into the dough in parts (take it out of the refrigerator a few hours before and leave it at room temperature) in 4-5 additions.

You need to knead the yeast dough for Christmas stollen for quite a long time - at least 15 minutes, and even better longer. It is most convenient to do this directly on the table, and not in a bowl. The result is a smooth, completely homogeneous, soft and slightly sticky dough. As I wrote above, during the kneading process you may need a little more or a little less flour than I indicated in the ingredients, but I don’t recommend filling the dough with flour so that the finished baked goods don’t turn out too dense and tough. Roll the dough into a ball and leave it in a bowl (I always wash the dishes in which the dough ferments - I just don’t like dirty ones). Place the dough in a warm place for 30 minutes - fermentation time depends on the activity of the yeast. I never tire of reminding you about where it is better for the dough to ferment and what a warm place means. There are several options. First of all, in the oven with the light on (it turns out to be approximately 28-30 degrees - the ideal temperature for fermenting yeast dough). Then cover the bowl with the dough with cling film or cover it with a towel made of natural fabric (linen is best) so that the surface does not become airy and crusty. You can also let the dough ferment in the microwave, in which you first bring a glass of water to a boil. The dough will rise when the door is closed, and the glass will stand there. Then there is no need to cover the bowl with anything, since the water will evaporate, thereby maintaining the necessary humidity. Just make sure that no one accidentally turns on the microwave, otherwise the dough will disappear and there will be no Christmas stollen.

At this stage we will introduce fillers into the dough. Add nuts and soaked dried fruits. If the juice and alcohol are not completely absorbed (as a rule, dried fruits absorb all the liquid in just an hour), add them to the dough too.

It’s most convenient to mix in the additives on a work surface, so put the dough on the table and start kneading. If necessary, add a little more wheat flour; if the dough turns out too sticky and spreads on the table, just don’t get carried away.

Let's move on to molding future stollen. I baked 2 large ones (even huge ones), so I divided the dough into 2 equal parts, rolling each into a bun. You can bake 3 or more small products. Sprinkle the work surface with a small amount of wheat flour.

Dresden stollen is the most famous version of the German Christmas cake, which was traditionally baked in the last days before Advent, left for many weeks until Christmas, and symbolized the infant Christ in swaddling clothes. This is a rich, dense cupcake that will fill your home with the magical aroma of Christmas even when baked!
It should be noted that recently the quality of products has deteriorated and I noticed that sometimes the dough does not rise in store-bought milk, perhaps this is due to additives or stabilizers that are added so that the milk does not sour, one way or another, use homemade high-quality milk or organic ecological milk If you still can’t find good milk, knead the dough in water - it will definitely rise.
Stollen dough is sweet and fatty, it rises hard, so no matter how long it takes, you must wait:
1. The dough should rise.
2. The dough should increase in size, only then knead it.
3. Stollen should lie down and expand slightly before baking.
But in any case, stollen is not a rich bun, it should not be airy, it is a rich, aromatic, but dense yeast cake.
We hope that the visual photographs and descriptions will help you prepare everything very tasty, bon appetit!

Ingredients:

• Makes 2 cupcakes
• 200g butter (150g for dough and 50g for soaking)
• 2 eggs
• 2 lemons (you will need zest)
• 300 g mixture of candied fruits, raisins, nuts (almonds)
• 100 ml rum
• 500g (+2 tablespoons for dough) flour
• 0.2l milk
• 200 sugar (of which 150 g in the dough, 50 g in the form of powdered sugar for sprinkling)
• A little salt (1/5 teaspoon)
• 1 teaspoon of dry yeast (or as written on the package per 500 g of flour)
• Spices (total spices together 1 tsp): vanilla, ground ginger, ground nutmeg.

Pour 100g of rum into a mixture of candied fruits, raisins and nuts and leave for 6-12 hours

Mix 150g sugar + all dry spices + vanilla + lemon zest + salt

Heat 150g of butter to room temperature, it should be elastically soft (the butter can be heated a little, but so that it does not turn into melted)

Mix half the milk (100ml) well with the eggs

Prepare the dough: mix 100 ml of warm milk (35 degrees) thoroughly with yeast, with 2 tbsp. flour and 1 tbsp. spoon of sugar, set aside for 20 minutes in a cool place without drafts (for example, a cabinet, microwave, pan with a lid)

Prepare the dough from the prepared mixtures: Mix butter, sugar with spices, milk with eggs, suitable dough and 500g of flour

Lubricate your palms with vegetable oil. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. It should become elastic and not stick to your hands.
Please take into account that the dough will stick a little, since it is sweet and moist, the main thing is that it does not stick to your palms in pieces when touched. I don’t recommend filling it with flour, adding a lot of extra flour - the dough after baking will be dry and tasteless.
Place the dough in a warm place to rise for about 2 hours (you can place the container with the dough in warm water (about 36-38 degrees) in the bathroom)

Knead the risen dough and mix in infused raisins with candied fruits and nuts. When kneading the dough, grease your hands with oil.

Divide the dough into 2 parts (according to the number of cupcakes)

Roll out the dough to 1 cm in an oval shape

You will need to fold the stollen in a special way. In the context according to this diagram.

To do this, fold the oval in half

wrap the top part

Stollen is a traditional German Christmas pastry with deep medieval roots and, in modern terms, a large fan club. It is a rich, fluffy, fragrant loaf that is baked 3-4 weeks before Christmas and then left to rest until it acquires its unique aroma. The appearance of stollen is not as elegant as, for example, traditional English muffins, but its shape has a sacred meaning - it personifies the swaddled newborn Christ.

Stollen is a heavy yeast dough and a lot of butter. The right stollen also adds a lot of sugar, dried fruits and nuts soaked in rum or other alcohol, which makes the delicacy truly rich, festive and unforgettable. It is generally accepted that all the best, the most delicious, the most valuable should be mixed into it. And what a freshly baked, spiced Christmas stollen smells like!

In addition to the fact that such baked goods already contain a large number of tasty additives, after baking the stollen is left to mature, and during this time it changes: the taste becomes deeper, the aroma is brighter and more intense. And already before the holiday... even unwrapping a Christmas stollen, carefully wrapped in paper for storage, becomes a holiday...

There are many recipes for stollen. Follow the link - simple and fast. I baked a classic of the genre - butter stollen. According to the old recipe, it will require: for 10 parts (weight) of flour, 4-5 parts of butter, at least 7 parts of dried fruit, 1 part of which can be replaced with almonds or marzipan.

Cooking time: about 3 hours plus time for preparing the filling and maturing the finished stollen
Yield of finished product: 2 large stollen

Ingredients

For filling:

• raisins 200 grams
• dates 100 grams
• candied fruits 100 grams
• dried cherries or cranberries 100 grams
• mixture of any nuts 100 grams
• orange (juice and zest) 1 piece
• lemon (zest) 1 piece
• rum, cognac, brandy or any other aromatic alcohol 100 ml

for stollen:

• prepared filling
• wheat flour 500 grams
• butter 300 grams for dough plus 50 grams for greasing
• warm milk 250 ml
• almond flour 100 grams
• sugar 85 grams
• fresh yeast 50 grams
• spice mixture 1 teaspoon (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves, anise, allspice to your taste)
• salt a pinch
• powdered sugar

Preparation

It is better to prepare the filling in advance: you can do this a couple of hours before preparing the Christmas stollen, but it will be better if you do it 12-16 hours in advance - so it will be perfectly infused. Any dried fruits and nuts that you like are suitable as a filling for the stollen : Use your favorite combinations or experiment. The main thing in this matter is that you like the mix on its own - the stollen will benefit from this and will definitely suit your taste!

To prepare the filling, mix washed and lightly dried raisins with cherries (cranberries).



Chop the nuts into large pieces and add to the raisins and cherries.



Cut the candied fruits into small pieces, as they have a very strong taste.



Remove the pits from the dates and chop them coarsely.



Mix candied fruits and dates with the filling.
Now grate the orange and lemon zest on a fine grater.



Squeeze the juice out of the orange - you get about 100 ml. Add alcohol to orange juice.



Pour the liquid into the prepared fruits and nuts, stir and let sit.



To prepare the dough, mix the yeast with a teaspoon of sugar.



Pour half the warm milk into the yeast and stir until the yeast dissolves.



Send the dough to a warm place until it becomes fluffy and begins to foam strongly.
While the dough is rising, pour the flour, remaining sugar, salt and spices into the bowl of a bread machine or food processor.



Add the second half of the milk and the dough.



Knead the dough for 10 minutes.



Then add the softened butter to the dough and knead until it comes together.



Leave the dough alone to rise for an hour and a half.
Transfer the finished soft and tender dough to a large bowl.



Now it's time to add almond flour.



Then add all the filling along with the liquid to the dough and mix it thoroughly.



The dough will be very soft, sticky, incredibly tender. Place it on a generously floured work surface.



Divide the dough into 2 parts, flatten each into a layer about 2 cm thick and make an oblong dent with the edge of your palm, retreating a third from the edge of the layer.



Fold the dough along this dent.



Place the dough pieces on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Leave them in a warm place for 35-45 minutes to rise.



Stollen should be baked in an oven preheated to 190 degrees for 60-70 minutes until golden brown.
Brush the finished hot stollen with melted butter.



Then sprinkle them generously with powdered sugar.



Let them cool, then wrap them well in parchment paper and then in foil to keep air out.
Stollen ripen at room temperature, and therefore the best place for storage is a kitchen cabinet or storage cupboard.

Dresden Christmas Stollen is an incredibly delicious, luxurious holiday cake with dried fruits, nuts and spices. This cupcake is a great homemade gift option, a great addition to a cup of coffee or tea, and, of course, a wonderful holiday treat.

Quite unprepossessing in appearance (for which it received the nickname “Dresden Monster”), stollen is incredibly seductive in cut and completely unforgettable in taste. Loaded with nut and fruit filling, flavorful and juicy, this cake captivates with its texture and taste from the first bite. Try it!

Prepare the ingredients according to the list.

The day before baking, prepare the filling. Peel the almonds. To do this, pour boiling water over the nuts and leave for a few minutes. Then drain the hot water and pour cold water over the nuts. After such a “contrast shower”, peeling the nuts will be very easy.

Place the peeled nuts in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and, stirring, fry until golden brown.

Chop the roasted nuts with a knife or grind in a blender in pulsation mode. Don't try to get a very fine grind, let some of the pieces remain coarse. This will give the taste of stollen additional charm.

Combine all filling ingredients: raisins, prepared almonds and candied fruits. I add chopped, and also, for variety, some dried cranberries and candied pineapple. You can use a mixture of candied fruits or just candied citrus fruits from lemon and orange peels - in any case it will turn out very tasty. Mix everything thoroughly and place the mixture in an airtight container or jar.

Pour in rum or cognac, seal the container tightly and let the mixture sit for at least a day.

On the day of baking, first take the butter out of the refrigerator - it should warm to room temperature. Sift the wheat flour.

Separate about 150 grams of flour and add half the sugar, yeast and a small pinch of salt.

Pour in warm milk and mix everything thoroughly.

Cover the container with cling film and a towel and place the mixture in a warm corner of the kitchen for 40-50 minutes.

Then add warm butter, the remaining half of the sugar and another 200-300 grams of flour. Mix the ingredients and knead into a smooth soft dough. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.

Place the dough in an oiled container, cover with a towel or cling film and let rest for another 35-50 minutes.

Meanwhile, add the juice of half a lemon (you can add zest), as well as ground cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla sugar or essence to the prepared filling.

Add the filling to the risen dough. There is more filling than dough - this is the hallmark of a good stollen. At first it may seem that the dough simply cannot accommodate such an amount of filling, but this is not so. Add the filling in small portions, gradually mixing it into the soft dough, and everything will work out.

Also, adding in small portions, knead the remaining third of the flour into the dough and form a ball of smooth soft dough.

Place the dough in a greased pan, cover with a towel or cling film and place in a warm corner of the kitchen for another 3.5–4 hours. During this time, lower the dough two or three times, kneading it for about 1 minute.

Line the bottom of a baking dish with 2 layers of foil. Also, unwind a piece of foil twice as long as the pan and fold it 3-4 times horizontally, forming a strip about 8-10 cm wide. This strip of foil will become a kind of cake pan.

Knead the dough for about 1 more minute. Then divide into 2 parts and form each of them into a ball. Place the first part of the dough in the bowl again, and form the second part into a stollen.

Roll out the dough into an oval shape about 1 cm thick. Then fold the dough almost in half, but slightly offset. So that the top half of the dough covers the bottom by about 2/3. Place the cake in the prepared pan.

Following the contours of the cake, place a strip of foil. Tighten the ends so that the foil holds the desired shape.

Let the cake sit for another 15 minutes, meanwhile preheat the oven to 220 degrees.

Place the cake in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes at 220 degrees. Then, when the cake is golden brown, reduce the temperature to 170 degrees and bake for another 30-35 minutes.

Check readiness by piercing the cake with a wooden skewer; if the skewer comes out clean, the stollen is ready.

Generously brush the surface of the hot cake with butter.

And then sprinkle with a thick layer of powdered sugar.

This cake can, of course, be served immediately, but it is also designed for long-term storage. Traditionally, stollen is baked 3-4 weeks before Christmas, as it becomes even tastier once it has steeped.

To store: Cool the cake completely, then wrap it in 2-3 layers of foil and cover with a kitchen towel. Place the cake in a wooden box or enamel pan and store in a cool, dry place. I store the cupcakes in the kitchen cabinet at about 20 degrees.

Dresden Christmas Stollen is ready! Bon appetit!

On December 8, 2018, the 25th anniversary of the Dresden Stollenfest began in Dresden, Germany. And that means, guys, it’s time to soak the raisins.

Stollen, the national pride of the Germans, is traditional Christmas baked goods made from yeast dough with dried fruits and spices. There are several classic stollen recipes in Germany, but it is the Dresden stollen that is considered the most famous in Germany and famous throughout the world.

These days, certified stollen bakers from all over the country come to Stollenfest, parade along the main streets of the city and carry a giant stollen, which is then cut and distributed (for money, of course) to everyone present.

Photo from the Dresden Stollen Facebook page: Dresdner Christstollen

During the Christmas holidays, no German feast is complete without spicy, cozy stollen.

In recent years, stollen, along with, began to gain unprecedented popularity and with us.

You’ve been asking me for a proven recipe for a long time now, and once again I couldn’t refuse you.

I started preparing this material last year. I dug through a bunch of German resources and studied the entire official website of the Dresden Stollen Association and it seems to me that I already know everything about him.

⇒ The oval shape of the Christmas cupcake, covered with powdered sugar, symbolizes the newborn Jesus, wrapped in snow-white swaddling clothes.

⇒ Only 120 bakeries and confectioneries that are members of the German Dresdner Stollen Association have the right to bake real Dresden Stollen. And his original recipe remains to this day. kept in the strictest confidence from the common man. Therefore, all the recipes wandering on the Internet, especially their Russian versions, are quite approximate.

⇒ Bakers have different opinions regarding the ripening of stollen. Some say that stollen acquires its richest and most pleasant taste 1 week after preparation, others say that ideally it is 2-3 weeks, and still others advise storing stollen for at least 2 months. It's a matter of everyone's taste here.

⇒ To the Dresden stollen forbidden add margarine, preservatives and flavorings.

⇒ The composition of the classic Dresden stollen should include 12 ingredients:

1. yeast
2. milk
3. sugar
4. oil
5. lemon zest
6. candied fruit
7. almond
8. powdered sugar
9. spice mixture

As you can see, in Stollen no eggs at all. Therefore, know that the presence of eggs in stollen is the first sign that the recipe is not quite classic.

Christmas stollen recipe

For 2 stollen, 900 g each. each (And believe me, this is not a lot. We received one in the first 2 days, and the second was left to ripen).

• light raisins - 300 gr.
• dark rum - 100−200 gr.
• flour - 600 gr.
• yeast, fresh - 40 gr.
• milk - 200 ml
• butter, softened - 225 gr. (+75 g for greasing ready-made stollen)
• sugar - 50 gr.
• salt - ½ tsp.
• spice mixture for stollen* - 5 gr. (see below↓)
• zest of ½ lemon
• peeled almonds - 50 gr.
• bitter almonds - 5 gr. or almond extract - 1 tsp. ( discount promo code POR7412) (added optionally, for marzipan taste)
• candied lemon (or citron) and orange - 125 gr. (Can )
• powdered sugar - 75 gr.

*Honestly, I don’t know exactly what spices are added to real stollen. I looked through a bunch of German stores that sell spice mixtures for stollen. Some sources give the entire list of the following spices, while others provide only nutmeg or cardamom and vanilla.

I think so: if the aroma of good butter, raisins and rum is more important to you, then add only cardamom, nutmeg and vanilla. And if you like spicy baking, then mix all these spices in the indicated proportions and add 5 grams to the dough. the resulting mixture.

• nutmeg, ground - ½ tsp. (Necessarily)
• cardamom, ground - ¼ tsp. (Necessarily)
• cinnamon, ground - ½ tsp.
• allspice, ground - ½ tsp.
• ginger, ground - ½ tsp.
• cloves, ground - ½ tsp.
• coriander, ground - ¼ tsp.
• vanilla - 1 pod or vanilla sugar with natural vanilla - 8 gr.

Step-by-step preparation with photos

1. We wash the raisins in hot water, dry them with a paper towel and pour in rum just until the rum covers the raisins, for a day.
   

   If you feel sorry for the rum, you can reduce the dose by half, but at the same time regularly mix the raisins with rum.

   

2. Before preparing the stollen, place the raisins in a sieve to drain excess liquid.
3. Grind the almonds into fine crumbs.
   
   
4. Pour half the flour (300 g) into the mixer bowl, rub the yeast with your hands, and pour in warm milk (not higher than 40º).
   
   
5. Using the hook attachment, mix well until smooth, transfer to a bowl and leave the dough to proof in a warm place for 2-3 hours.
   
   
6. After the dough has risen, in a mixer bowl, mix soft butter, sugar, salt, spices, vanilla, lemon zest, almonds (and almond extract, if adding) and candied fruits well.
   
   
7. Then add the remaining flour, the suitable dough and mix everything together with a hook for about 10 minutes.
8. Lastly, add the raisins and mix again until smooth.
9. Divide the dough into 2 equal parts, knead it with your hands on a work surface dusted with flour and leave for 20 minutes.
   
10. Then we give them a classic oval shape, folding them into an envelope and rolling them into a roll.
    

    Below I recorded a video on how to properly form stollen ⇓

    

11. We make cuts in the center of each stollen with a sharp knife.
    
12. Preheat the oven to 200º and bake the stollen for the first 15 minutes at a temperature of 200º. Then lower the temperature to 180º and bake for another 45 minutes (total baking time - 1 hour). For the last 20 minutes of baking, cover the stollen with parchment so that they do not burn.
    
13. After baking, let the stollen cool completely, preferably overnight.
14. We “wipe” the cooled stollen with our hands to clean off the protruding burnt raisins, and generously grease them with melted butter.
    
15. Immediately roll the stollen in sugar and carefully sprinkle with powdered sugar, first on the sides and then on top.
    
    
16. Ready-made stollen ripen in 2-3 weeks on a wooden board at room temperature, covered with linen cloth or wrapped in foil or a plastic bag.
    

Due to their high fat and sugar content, stollen can be stored for up to 3 months. Professional bakers speak that after some time after baking the stollen, spices and dried fruits reveal their aromas better. But one week is enough for this.

The taste of stollen is quite specific and will directly depend on the spices and alcohol you use. Personally, I really liked it the very next day. Moreover, it actually became much more aromatic and tastier than immediately after baking. I can't wait for 3 weeks to pass so I can taste the final version.

The texture of stollen is also very interesting and unlike anything else. The crumb is dense but soft. I would say this is something between a cupcake in its classical sense.

This is how stollen were prepared in Germany many years ago. Historical video:

Enjoy your pre-holiday chores, less stress and more hugs.

Olya Athenskaya

Helping you bake better