Go Back
Print this page

2000s Recipes + Menus

Stollen

Makes2 large loaves
  • Active Time:1 hr
  • Start to Finish:5 hr
ADAPTED FROM CRUST + DVD BY RICHARD BERTINET, PUBLISHED BY KYLE BOOKS
March 2008
Yes, we know Christmas is months away, but when it draws nigh, you’ll want Bertinet’s recipe for stollen at the ready. It’s the best we’ve ever had. Learn how to knead the dough by watching Richard Bertinet in our video, and then try the different variations.

For Dough

  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons whole milk
  • 1/2 oz fresh (cake) yeast or 1 (1/4-oz) package active dry yeast (preferably Red Star or Saf)
  • 1 lb 2 oz bread flour (about 3 3/4 cups)
  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
  • 2 tablespoons superfine granulated sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs

For Fruit Filling

  • 3/4 cup chopped mixed candied peel (3 1/2 oz)
  • 2/3 cup golden raisins
  • 1/3 cup sliced almonds
  • 1/4 cup chopped glacé cherries
  • 2 tablespoons golden or dark rum
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

For Créme D’almond

  • 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
  • 1/3 cup superfine sugar
  • 1/2 cup almond meal or almond flour
  • 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tablespoon golden or dark rum
  • 7 oz marzipan, cut into small pieces (1 1/4 cups)

For Glaze

  • 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon golden or dark rum
  • Confectioners sugar for dusting

  • Equipment:

    a flexible plastic bowl scraper

Make Dough:

  • If using fresh yeast, heat milk until just warm. If using dry yeast, heat milk to 120 to 130°F.
  • Rub yeast into flour in a large bowl, then rub in butter. Stir in sugar and salt. Fold in milk and eggs with bowl scraper, rotating bowl, until liquid is absorbed and a wet, sticky dough forms. (Dough will be wetter than most you’ve encountered.) Scrape dough out onto an unfloured surface. (Dough will be a sticky mess. Don’t be tempted to add additional flour. By working the dough through a process of repeatedly stretching and folding it over onto itself, trapping air, dough will become cohesive and supple.).
  • Slide your fingers underneath both sides of dough with your thumbs on top. Lift dough up (to about chest level) with your thumbs toward you, letting dough hang slightly. In a continuous motion, swing dough down, slapping back end of dough onto surface, then stretch dough up and back over itself in an arc to trap in air. Repeat lifting, slapping, and stretching, scraping surface with flat side of bowl scraper as needed, until dough is supple, cohesive, and starts to bounce slightly off of surface without sticking, about 8 minutes.
  • Transfer dough to a lightly floured clean surface. Form into a ball by folding each edge, in turn, into center of dough and pressing down well with your thumb, rotating ball as you go. Turn ball over and transfer to a lightly floured bowl and cover with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth). Let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled, about 1 hour.

Add Fruit Filling to Dough:

  • Gently release dough from bowl with scraper onto a lightly floured surface and pat out with your fingertips into a rough square. Stir together all fruit-filling ingredients and spread over dough. Fold a few times to incorporate, then reshape into a ball and return to lightly floured bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth) and let rest 30 minutes.

Make Créme D’almond While Dough Rests:

  • Beat together butter and sugar with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add almond meal and beat until combined. Beat in flour, then egg and rum until light and creamy. (Do not add marzipan.)

Assemble Stollen:

  • Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 2 portions. Pat out each piece with your fingertips into a 9- by 6-inch rectangle. Spread each piece with almond cream, leaving a 1-inch border, then sprinkle marzipan over cream. Fold 1 long side of a stollen over into center, then fold other long side over (like a letter) and pinch to seal all along edges. Transfer, seam side up, to a lightly buttered baking sheet. Fold second stollen and put on sheet, arranging 6 inches apart. Cover with kitchen towel and let rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until almost doubled, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Bake and Glaze Stollen:

  • Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle.
  • Bake stollen until deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Just before stollen are finished baking, melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in rum. Immediately after stollen are done, brush generously with glaze, then dust thickly with confectioners sugar. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Cooks’ Note: Stollen keep, wrapped well, at room temperature 5 days or frozen 3 months.

Photograph by Romulo Yanes

Keywords
bread,
baking,
richard bertinet,
christmas