There is no holiday in Germany without Bavarian Christmas stollen. Now we will share with you a relatively simple marzipan recipe.
If you’ve already made leavened dough or some kind of homemade bread, making Bavarian Christmas stollen won’t be too much of a challenge either.
This sweet bread filled with dried fruits has been an indispensable part of the holidays in the Dresden area since the Middle Ages. Its shape is always elongated, oval, to remind us of the Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes.
Bavarian Christmas stollen
Ingredients for 12 slices
- 200 g flour
- 100 g marzipan
- 80 g dried fruit
- 80 g soft butter
- 80 g chopped almonds
- 75 g sugar
- 20 g yeast
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon rum
- 75 ml milk
- The grated peels of half an orange
- Half a teaspoon salt
- For the top
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 50 g melted butter
Preparation
Warm up the milk. Add a teaspoon of flour, a teaspoon of sugar, crumble the yeast in, and knead for ten minutes. Warm up the rum slightly, then pour it over the dried fruits to soak them.
Sieve the flour. Add the sugar, salt, diced soft butter, egg yolk, the milk with yeast and the grated orange peel and mix. When the composition is smooth and stretchy, add the soaked dried fruit and almonds. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. Shape it into balls and leave it covered in a warm place until it doubles in size, in about one hour.
Place the risen dough on a floured board and roll it into a 20×25 cm rectangle. Press the center, so that a recess is formed in it. Roll out the marzipan stick to a length of 25 cm and place it in this recess. Now fold the bottom of the dough up to the top, gently roll it out with the help of a rolling pin so that the edges stick together, then place it in a baking tray lined with baking paper. Cover and rest for another 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the cake for 25-30 minutes. Meanwhile, melt the butter. Brush the baked stollen with half of the melted butter while still hot. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, then spread on the other half of the butter and sprinkle with sugar again. With the sugary coating, the cake will stay deliciously juicy for a long time.