The Berlin Christmas season is just around the corner. That means fresh gingerbread, glittering Christmas markets and unusual winter activities. There’s something going on in Berlin week after week and our capital city’s offerings multiply once again during the festive period at the end of the year. If you want to have some cozy time at home in addition to all the activities, you can try out our new recipe: Try your own Christmas stollen.
Ingredients: What you need
Stollen dough (pre-dough)
- 500 g flour (type 405)
- 125 ml milk
- 1 cube of yeast
- 60 g sugar
Main dough
- 250 g butter
- 500 g flour
- 50 g sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
Christmas toppings
- 300 g raisins
- 100 g lemons
- 50 g candied orange peel
- 100 g chopped almonds
- approx. 8 tbsp rum
- 1 pinch of cardamom
- 1 pinch of nutmeg (ground)
- 1 lemon zest
To finish
- 150-200 g butter
- 250 g powdered sugar
Preparation: How to make Christmas stollen step by step
1. pickling the fruit
The earlier you start with your Christmas stollen, the better. Soak the raisins, candied lemon peel and candied orange peel at least 12 hours before your baking time. This means that you place them in a bowl, pour the rum over them, cover and leave to soak at room temperature.
2. the pre-dough
Then it’s time for the starter dough. Take 125 g flour, all the yeast, sugar and lukewarm milk. Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm milk and mix it with the flour and sugar until you have a thick pre-dough. Once again, you have to wait: leave the dough to rise in a warm place for approx. 30 minutes until it has doubled in volume.
3. the main dough
Then mix the remaining flour (375 g) with the sugar, salt and spices (cardamom, nutmeg, lemon zest). Then add the risen pre-dough, the eggs and the butter cut into pieces at room temperature and knead everything together thoroughly. You can now take out the pickled fruit and knead it and the almonds evenly into the dough.
4. resting and shaping
After these first steps, you will need a little more patience. The dough should be covered and left to rest for another 45 minutes. Then shape your stollen: On a floured work surface, shape the dough into an oval and press a hollow into it lengthways using a rolling pin. Then fold the longer side over the hollow to create the typical stollen shape. Did you know that this is symbolic of the wrapped Christ Child?
5. baking
Preheat the oven to 175 °C top/bottom heat and bake the stollen on a baking tray lined with baking paper for approx. 50 to 60 minutes. If the surface browns too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil.
6. finishing
One important step is missing at the very end. Brush the hot stollen generously with melted butter immediately after baking. Repeat this step several times until all the butter has been absorbed. The butter will keep the stollen moist. You can sprinkle the buttered stollen with powdered sugar as desired. Once the stollen has cooled completely, it usually needs to be dusted again with a thick layer of powdered sugar.
Then you’re already done! Leave the cooled stollen wrapped in cling film in a cool, dark place. It is best to wait a little longer. The Christmas stollen will only develop its full Christmas flavor after 2 to 3 weeks of resting. If you can stand it, you will be rewarded with pure Christmas indulgence. And you’ll have the perfect present at the same time.