Stollen

December 27: National Fruitcake Day

We exchanged fruitcakes one year with our oft-mentioned friend, Lisa L. We sent her an English-style homemade fruitcake from Highlander’s Mum’s recipe (blog post TBA) and Lisa gave us an authentic German stollen! The German-style fruitcake, also called Weihnachtsstollen or Christstollen, is oval-shaped, has a breadlike texture and is smothered in a blizzard of snow-white powdered sugar. What a delightful discovery of this Dresden delicacy!

We wanted to share this cultural confection with Islander’s brother’s students at his university during an Advent festival and introduce them to the international variety of fruitcakes as well as explain the symbolism of the seasonal stollen. The fruits in the cake represent the riches and gifts from the Three Kings and the blanket of white sugar on the Christstollen stands for the swaddling clothes of the sweet baby Jesus, Who is the Christ and King of all kings.

To make our simplified stollen at home, we used the dough-only cycle on our bread machine and finished baking it in the oven. This German fruitcake makes a flavorful and festive food for National Fruitcake Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from The Bread Experience)

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, divided
• ¼ cup butter, cold and cut up
• ¼ cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 teaspoon almond extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 ¼ cups bread flour
• ¼ cup sugar, granulated white
• ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon freshly grated lemon peel
• 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast
• ½ cup slivered almonds, toasted
• ½ cup dried cranberries
• ½ cup golden raisins
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• powdered sugar

Directions

In the bread machine container, place 1 egg and 1 egg yolk (use the remaining egg white for the wash), butter, water, milk, almond extract, salt, four, sugar, cardamom, nutmeg, lemon peel and yeast. Layer all the ingredients in order and follow the dough-only cycle instructions for your specific bread machine.

Once the bread machine cycle is complete, remove the dough from its container.  Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface, if necessaryto make the dough less sticky and easier to handle. Knead in the almonds, cranberries and raisins until well incorporated. Shape the dough into one large or two medium ovals. Place onto a greased baking sheet and cover with a greased plastic wrap. Place in a lukewarm oven until the dough has risen or doubled in size (approximately half an hour to an hour).

Remove from the oven and carefully remove the plastic wrap. Brush the dough with lightly beaten egg white. Bake the stollen at 350 degrees F in a preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and loosely place a foil on top to prevent from overbrowning. Return to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes. Brush melted butter on the top of the stollen.

Generously sprinkle with powdered sugar. When the stollen has completely cooled, slice and sprinkle with more powdered sugar before serving.

Notes

• This stollen made from a bread machine recipe is not as sweet as the store-bought stollen but it is still scrumptious.
• Avoid overkneading the nuts and dried fruits in the dough. Otherwise, the stollen will not be as light when baked.