If this Christmas you decide to make only one dessert, I beg you to choose this one. You ask — why? Because chances are you haven’t tried a cake which is eaten 2 weeks after you made it! 😉
Stollen is a sweet German bread loaded with nuts, raisins and candied fruits. Its shape and thick layer of sugar it’s coated with remind a swaddled baby. And the taste is just as tender!
Traditional Stollen recipe calls for using yeast, but who wants such complications, right? So here we’re going to make a quick version of bread which, however, will not compromise the quality. Prepare your taste buds to be pleasantly surprised this Christmas!
P.S. Ingredients for this recipe are listed in grams AND cups! See, I really really want you to give Stollen a try 😉
For the stollen:
1 2/3 cup (250 g) thompson raisins
2/3 cup (50 g) candied orange peel
2/3 cup (50 g) candied lemon peel
1 1/3 cup (200 g) roasted almonds, roughly chopped
2 tbsp orange liquor (or orange juice)
1 cup 2 tbsp (250 g) butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 cup (250 g) sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (250 g) ricotta
juice ans zest of 1 lemon
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 cups (600 g) flour + 1/2 cup (60 g)
2 tsp (10 g) baking powder
4 tbsp (~60 g) butter
2/3 cup (75 g) powdered sugar
The night before place raisins, orange and lemon peels into a shallow bowl. Add orange liqour (or slightly warm juice), stir well and cover the bowl with a plastic wrap. Let the fruits soak overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180 C/360 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream soft butter and sugar on medium speed for about 5-7 minutes. Slightly whisk eggs, reduce the speed to a low and start to add whisked eggs in several parts, mixing well after each addition. Add ricotta, vanilla extract, lemon juice and lemon zest, and mix again. Scrap sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula making sure all ingredients incorporated well.
In a shallow bowl sift flour and baking powder. Change mixer attachment to dough hook, add 1/2 of dry ingredients and mix on a low speed for 5 minutes. Add remaining flour and mix until no visible clumps of flour remained. Uncover dried fruits and mix well with a rubber spatula. Add fruits and nuts to the bowl of stand mixer and stir on a low speed so they are evenly spread.
Transfer the dough to a slightly floured surface. If it looks a bit wet start to mix in additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. The dough should have very smooth surface.
Divide the dough and form two large oval loaves. Transfer the loaves to a baking sheet and bake for 55-60 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out dry and clean. Transfer stollens to a cooling rack and let them sit for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl melt 4 tbsp butter. While stollens are still warm generously coat them with melted butter and sift a thick layer of powdered sugar on top.
Let the stollens cool completely and then tightly wrap them in parchment paper and aluminium foil. Place in a refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
Beautiful!! My niece is super into baking and I bet it’d be fun to make together over the holidays! What is the soonest you’d recommend eating it after it’s made?
Absolutely, holiday baking with family is the best!
Honestly, after making this shoot I ate some pieces right away and it tasted delicious 🙂 But I think you can have more tender result if you let the stollen rest for a week or so.