Stollen is a traditional Christmas pastry,originally from German cuisine. Today, stollen is baked all over the world, including in Russia. Traditionally, the Christmas stollen was supposed to resemble a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes in its shape and color. Stollen is made from yeast or shortcrust pastry with lots of dried fruit. Another feature of the Christmas stollen is that it is baked in advance and kept wrapped in thick paper for several weeks. Hermetically sealed, they can be stored for several months. And their taste will only improve. In Dresden, a whole festival is held in honor of the stollen - this special cake is so popular and revered. Stollen is baked in different types: curd, poppy seed, nut, marzipan ... We suggest you bake a Christmas stollen for the New Year holidays.
Curd cheese with candied fruits
One of the most popular is the curd-orange stollen. The perfect combination of curd, aromatic candied fruit and zest is always a winning option. Try it! Ingredients:
- Flour 600 g (4 cups)
- Baking Powder - 1-1.5 sachets
- Sugar - 1 glass with a slide
- Curd - 250 g, wipe through a sieve
- Butter (softened) - 250 g + 50 g
- Almonds - 200 g
- Raisins - 200 g
- Orange candied fruits - 100 g
- Rum - 1 glass
- Eggs - 2 pcs.
- Juice and peel 1 lemon
- Sugar vanilla - 1 packet
- Powdered sugar
Preparation:The day before, wash the raisins and pour in rum. Leave in the refrigerator overnight. Pour cold water over the almonds and leave overnight. In the morning, peel and chop. Before cooking, remove all ingredients from the refrigerator in advance so that they warm up to room temperature. Wash the lemon, remove the zest and squeeze out the juice. Beat the soft butter with the eggs and sugar. Add vanilla sugar, grated cottage cheese, lemon zest, and finally, lemon juice. Stir. Mix the flour with baking powder and pour into the butter-curd mixture. Stir until a homogeneous mass is formed. Add almonds, candied fruit, and raisins to the dough one by one. (Pre-drain the raisins and lightly sprinkle with flour.) The dough should be dense and pliable. You can make one large or two smaller stollen from it - your choice. Place the dough on a floured surface and form a rectangle. Fold the edges of the long sides to the middle, overlapping each other. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Place the dough in a mold or on a baking sheet and bake for 60-80 minutes, depending on the size. Check for readiness with a dry toothpick. If you are afraid that it will start to burn on top before it is baked through, you can cover it with baking paper. Grease the finished Christmas stollen with melted butter (50 g) and sprinkle generously with powdered sugar. Cool completely and wrap in parchment or foil. Hide in a cool and dry place to “mature” for at least two weeks.
Dresden from yeast dough
Ingredients:
- Flour - 5 glasses (750 g)
- Milk - 250 ml
- Sugar - 125 g + 1 tbsp.
- Butter - 350 g + 70 g
- Fresh yeast (pressed) - 80 g
- Sugar vanilla - 1 packet
- 450 g raisins assorted (different colors and varieties)
- Rum for soaking raisins
- Almond Sweet - 100 g
- Almond bitter - 50 g
- Orange candied fruits - 100 g
- Lemon zest is 1 tbsp.
- Spices: ground cardamom, ground ginger - by 0.25 tsp.
- Salt - pinch
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- Sugar powder - 0,5 cups
Preparation:Wash the raisins and soak them in rum for a few hours (do this in advance, before baking). Heat the milk to 35 - 40 C. Crush the yeast in a cup, mix with sugar and pour in a little milk. Stir and leave for 5-7 minutes until the characteristic foam appears. Sift the flour, add sugar, vanilla sugar, salt and spices. Pour all the milk into the yeast, stir. Pour the yeast into the flour and start kneading the dough, gradually adding heated butter to it. Knead a soft dough. Finely chop the candied fruit, dry the raisins and lightly sprinkle with flour. Mix with chopped almonds and evenly pour into the dough and stir, without kneading anymore. Transfer the dough to a deep bowl, cover with cling film and leave it to rise in a warm place. After 30 minutes, knead the dough a little and then leave for another 45 minutes. The risen dough should noticeably increase in volume. Divide the dough into two parts and form an oblong flat loaf from each. To give it the shape of a traditional stollen, you need to visually divide it lengthwise into three parts, separate one part by making a longitudinal indentation with the edge of your palm. And lift this smaller part and wrap it around the larger one. You will get a kind of fold. Cover the baking sheet with baking paper and put the loaves on it to rise. Cover with a towel and leave for another half an hour. Turn on the oven and preheat to 190-200C. Bake for 70 to 90 minutes, depending on the features of the oven and the size of the loaves. To prevent burning on top, cover with parchment or foil. Grease the finished stollen with butter while still warm, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Then cool completely on a wire rack and pack tightly in paper or foil. And hide away in a cupboard for a few weeks. During this time, your Christmas stollen will become even tastier and more aromatic. We recommend reading: