STOLLEN

Traditional German Christmas bread

Germans traditionally eat Stollen around Christmastime. This recipe comes from someone I went to school with. She, and her parents, who are from southern Germany, recommended it as quite an authentic recipe. It is indeed a very tasty and rich bread.

Ingredients

(Makes 1 large or 2 small loaves)

1/4 oz active dried yeast (1 package)
3/4 cup warm water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup soft butter
3 1/2 cups flour
1 cup chopped blanched almonds
1/2 cup citronat (candied lemon peel), cut into small pieces
1/2 cup orangenat (candied orange peel), cut into small pieces
1/2 cup raisins
1 Tbsp grated lemon peel

Procedure

Dissolve the yeast in the water and proof it.
Add the sugar, eggs, egg yolk, butter and half of the flour. Beat for 10 minutes.
Blend in the remaining flour, nuts, fruits, and peel.
Let rise about 1 1/2 hours, until doubled.
Punch down, cover, and refrigerate overnight.
Knead the dough.
Roll into one or two rectangles, butter it, and fold over the edges to make a rolled loaf.
Place on a greased cookie sheet with the folded edges down. Spread with a combination of 1 egg white and 1 Tbsp water. Let rise until doubled in size (45 to 60 minutes).
Bake 30-35 minutes at until golden brown.

Notes

My loaves of stollen come out somewhat wide and short. Some traditionalists make them long and narrow. You can also make them in normal bread pans instead of on cookies sheets, in which case you should increase the baking time somewhat.

Rating

Difficulty: moderate.
Time: hand-on time: 30 minutes; rising times: 1 1/2 hours + overnight + 1 hour; baking time: 30-35 minutes.
Precision: measure the ingredients, though you can experiment with the fruits and nuts.

Contributor

 
Aviva Garrett 
Santa Cruz, California, USA 
Excelan, Inc., San Jose, California 
{ucbvax!mtxinu ihnp4!cae780}!excelan!aviva

Recipe last modified: 4 Dec 86

Original header

Path: decwrl!recipes
From: aviva@excelan (Aviva Garrett)
Newsgroups: mod.recipes
Subject: RECIPE: Stollen
Message-ID: <7021@decwrl.DEC.COM>
Date: 19 Dec 86 02:58:05 GMT
Sender: recipes@decwrl.DEC.COM
Organization: Excelan, Inc., San Jose, Calif., USA
Lines: 77
Approved: reid@decwrl.UUCP

 Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust
Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted
provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial
advantage, the USENET copyright notice and the title of the newsgroup and
its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of
the USENET Community Trust or the original contributor.