Christmas Stollen Recipe

Christmas Stollen from Brendan Lynch recipe

The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

Prep: 60 mins
Cook: 30 mins
Proving Time: 90 mins
Total: 3 hrs
Servings: 6 servings

Stollen is another of those fabulous cakes that we seem to eat only around the Christmas holiday, but it should be eaten at other times as it is utterly delicious.

This lovely stollen recipe comes from renowned baker, Brendan Lynch, best known from his appearance and as finalist on the Great British Bake Off. A skilled cooking instructor, he can be found as a guest tutor at Cooks, the Carlton School of Food in Yorkshire.

Whatever you do, don't be put off by the number of ingredients in this recipe—it's far less daunting than it looks and believe well worth the effort.

Ingredients

For the Fruit Mixture

  • 1/2 cup (60 grams) golden raisins

  • 1/4 cup (15 grams) flaked almonds

  • 1 tablespoon (15 grams) mixed candied fruit peel

  • 1/4 cup dried cranberries

  • 1 medium orange, zested and juiced

  • 1 medium lemon, zested

  • 1 tablespoon rum

For the Dough

  • 3 1/2 ounces (50 grams) butter, softened

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons (20 grams) superfine sugar

  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

  • 1 large egg, beaten

  • 3/4 cup (170 grams) all-purpose flour

  • 1 packet fast-acting yeast

  • 3 1/2 ounces (100 grams) marzipan

For the First Glaze

  • 2/3 cup (150 grams) butter

  • 1/4 cup (50 grams) sugar

For the Second Glaze

  • 1/4 cup smooth apricot jam

  • 3 tablespoons (45 grams) butter

  • 1/4 cup (30 grams) superfine sugar

  • 1 tablespoon whole milk

  • Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Steps to Make It

Prepare the Fruit Mixture

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for fruit mixture
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  2. Mix together all the ingredients for the fruit mixture in a large bowl.

    Stir
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  3. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand in a cool place for up to 5 days, but at least overnight.

    Cover plastic wrap
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  4. Just before making the stollen, take 1 tablespoon of the weighed flour and mix into the reserved fruit to absorb any excess moisture.

    Take flour and add
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

Make the Dough

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for dough
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  2. Using a whisk, beat together the butter, salt, allspice, sugar, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl until soft.

    Mix butter and sugar
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  3. Add the egg, little by little, until fully absorbed.

    Add the egg
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  4. Add the remaining flour and yeast to the creamed mixture and mix until it comes together. Let stand for 10 minutes.

    Add flour
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  5. Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured surface and knead for 8 minutes.

    Knead
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  6. Add the reserved fruit mixture to the dough and knead gently until it is mixed in evenly.

    Add fruit
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  7. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in size, about 1 hour.

    Cover
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  8. Shape the marzipan into a short log and set aside.

    Shape marzipan
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  9. De-gas the dough after 1 hour of proofing to release the air and when ready, transfer to work surface. 

    Degas dough
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  10. Dust the dough with some flour so that the rolling pin doesn't stick to the surface. Roll out the dough to a rough square.

    Roll out
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska 
  11. Place the marzipan log in the middle. Fold the dough around the marzipan to enclose it completely.

    Roll dough
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  12. Roll the stollen so that the seam is facing the bottom. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with non-stick parchment. 

    Put on baking tray
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  13. Cover with a cloth and set aside to proof for another 30 minutes.

    Cover with a cloth
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  14. Preheat oven to 200 C/Gas 6 and place a roasting pan in the bottom of oven.

    Place roasting pan on bottom of oven
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  15. Fill a cup with water and set aside.

    Fill a cup with water
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  16. When dough is ready, put the baking sheet into oven and add the cup of water to the roasting pan. Close door and lower temperature to 180 C/Gas4. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes. The stollen should sound hollow when tapped.

    Put baking sheet in
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  17. Melt the butter from the first glaze and brush the hot baked stollen when removed from the oven. Brush 2 to 3 times so the butter is allowed to seep into the dough.

    Melt butter
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  18. Sprinkle the caster sugar over the butter-brushed stollen and allow to cool.

    Sprinkle
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska

Make the Second Glaze

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Ingredients for a second glaze
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  2. Put all the ingredients into a small saucepan and bring to the boil for 1 to 2 minutes.

    Glaze
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  3. Transfer the cooled stollen to a sheet of parchment paper that's dusted with icing sugar. Brush the hot glaze all over the stollen.

    Brush glaze
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  4. Using a sieve, dust with confectioner's sugar; the top, sides, and bottom will pick up the sugar from the parchment paper. 

    Dust with sugar
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  5. Wait 5 minutes for glaze to absorb after the first dusting, then give it a final coating of confectioner's sugar.

    Confectioner's sugar
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
  6. Serve and enjoy!

    Cut stollen
    The Spruce / Ulyana Verbytska
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
776 Calories
33g Fat
119g Carbs
8g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 6
Amount per serving
Calories 776
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 33g 43%
Saturated Fat 18g 89%
Cholesterol 102mg 34%
Sodium 355mg 15%
Total Carbohydrate 119g 43%
Dietary Fiber 7g 26%
Total Sugars 89g
Protein 8g
Vitamin C 125mg 626%
Calcium 143mg 11%
Iron 2mg 11%
Potassium 598mg 13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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