This recipe has “stollen” my heart!

I genuinely enjoy German cooking. Like most types of cuisine that have come out of Europe over the centuries, I think it is great because it is just full of flavour, will warm you to your bones during winter, and it seems like each recipe makes enough to feed a small army (hey, throughout history families in Europe tended to be on the larger side simply because it made getting the chores done around the homestead easier, and because many times some of the children simply would not survive things like harsh climates and disease). My own family has its roots firmly planted to Europe (mostly Slovakia), and that part of my family tree has enormously influenced the food that I tend to enjoy most often.  

A version of this recipe was given to me back in my university days from one of the girls that I knew from the next residence building over, but that recipe was long lost through many years of moving and re-sorting papers. Luckily though, this one that I found online a little while back is pretty darn close.

It is for a traditional German Christmas sweet bread called “stollen”. Typically, this type of bread is filled with dried fruits, nuts and marzipan, then the top is heavily sprinkled with a powdered sugar coating that actually protects the Christmas sourdough stollen and makes it last a long time, even outside of the fridge. It also often has a marzipan log baked inside the middle of the dough, providing a sweet bite right in the middle.

The origin of this bread traces back to the city of Dresden in the 15th century when bakers sought permission from the Pope to use butter during Advent, resulting in the creation of this delicious treat. This festive bread is a symbol of holiday indulgence, embodying centuries of tradition and the warmth of German Yuletide celebrations.

One of the best parts is choosing your flavours that you want to feature. Feel free to use any combination of fruits, peel and nuts you want. If you don’t like citrus peel, just leave it out. If you love nuts, add a variety to the recipe. Want something even more unique? Try adding carob chips (you can usually find those in bulk food stores near the chocolate chips) and a swirl of cinnamon!

This recipe for sourdough stollen uses a stiff, sweet levain which is made the night before. If your home is very cold, I suggest putting this slow rising levain somewhere warm as it will take too long to peak otherwise.

A sweet, stiff levain is also much less acidic than your regular sourdough starter which is fed at 100% hydration. This will give your sourdough stollen a much more mellow flavor, with added sweetness from the sugar in the levain.

If you really want to use your regular sourdough starter, you CAN… but you will quickly find that it will make this dough much wetter and more difficult to handle, so I strongly urge you to take the time and create the sweet, stiff levain.

This sourdough stollen is made using an enriched dough, which means that the dough contains a lot of fat from the buttermilk, milk, eggs and butter. Enriched doughs typically take a lot longer to ferment during bulk rise than lean doughs (doughs without added fats). If you throw in some dried fruit that has been soaked in rum, then the fermentation time increases even further.

It's safe to leave the dough out on the counter overnight, as the bulk fermentation time will be long! I've never had an issue leaving enriched doughs out to bulk ferment.

You will also notice that I have not added the cinnamon or nutmeg to the dough. You can sprinkle it onto the dough after bulk fermentation (this is because cinnamon can inhibit the rise of the dough during bulk fermentation due to its anti microbial properties).

Sourdough stollen will actually last quite a while at room temperature, as long as you store it correctly. Once baked, sugared and wrapped in aluminum foil, you can store sourdough Stollen at room temperature for around 2 weeks. If you want to store it longer than this, I would advise placing it in the freezer (try wrapping your stollen in aluminum foil and then place into a Ziploc bag. This keeps the sourdough stollen from being burned by the freezer).

Best Sourdough Stollen (German Christmas bread):

For the stiff sweet levain:

·      60 g Sourdough Starter

·      60 g Water

·      120 g Bread Flour

·      20 g Sugar (white, fine)

Dried fruit:

·      35 g Spiced Rum (Captain Morgan's, Kraken etc.)

·      80 g Raisins (or sultanas)

·      30 g Mixed Peel

·      70 g Dried Apricots (roughly chopped)

·      30 g Dried Cranberries (or dried blueberries)

For the stollen dough:

·      260 g Stiff Sweet Levain (as prepared above)

·      350 g Bread Flour (or all-purpose flour)

·      245 g Dried Fruit (as prepared above)

·      1 Egg (approx. 70g)

·      75 g Buttermilk

·      75 g Milk

·      30 g Sugar

·      5 g Salt

·      100 g Butter (softened at room temp, I've used salted butter)

Other inclusions and toppings:

·      250 g Marzipan (divide the 250g portion into 2 pieces if you're making 2 smaller stollens)

·      1 tsp Cinnamon

·      ½ tsp Nutmeg

·      250 g Powdered Sugar (for rolling the baked Stollen in)

1)   Prepare the levain the night before. Add the flour, water, sugar and sourdough starter to a jar and mix thoroughly. Set aside to peak

2)   Add all of the dried fruit to a mixing bowl and add the spiced rum. Stir well to coat all of the fruit. Cover with plastic and set aside overnight

3)   The next day, add the sugar, buttermilk, milk and egg to a large mixing bowl and whisk well to combine and dissolve the sugar

4)   Now add the stiff sweet levain to the liquid and use your whisk to break up the levain as best you can, allowing it to soften in the other liquid

5)   On top of that, add the bread flour and salt and bring together into a stiff dough. Cover with plastic and set aside for around one hour

6)   Tip the sourdough stollen dough out onto the counter top and add a little of the butter. Knead this in, before adding more, until all the butter has been kneaded into the dough. This can be difficult if you're not used to working with enriched doughs. You can use a stand mixer to perform this step if you prefer. It is very similar to kneading butter into sourdough brioche dough

7)   Once the butter is fully incorporated in the dough, allow the dough to rest for around 10 minutes (you can leave it on the counter, just pop the bowl over the top so it doesn't dry out)

8 )   Now, gently knead in all the boozy dried fruit. The fruit should have absorbed all the rum, so there won't be any excess liquid to worry about. Don't worry if the dough tears a little, leave it to rest for 10 minutes, then knead again

9)   When you're happy that all the fruit has been incorporated into the dough, pop the dough back into the bowl and cover. Allow to bulk ferment at room temperature until the dough has risen around 50%. Don't worry about the dough containing butter milk, egg, milk and butter. It's perfectly safe to leave it out at room temperature

10)            Once the dough has risen to around 50%, it's time to shape the dough and add the marzipan and cinnamon and nutmeg

11)            Tip the dough out of the bowl onto the counter so the sticky side is on top. If you're making one large stollen, then leave the dough as is, but if you would prefer two smaller stollens, divide the dough into two equally weighted pieces

12)            Gently pull each piece of dough out into a rough rectangle. Mold the marzipan into two long cylinders, the same length as your dough and lay off centre on the long side of each piece dough

13)            Sprinkle the dough with cinnamon and nutmeg if desired

14)            Roll each rectangle of dough into a long roll (similar to when you make sourdough cinnamon rolls). Start on the side where you've laid the marzipan and roll, tucking the bottom seam under, along with the ends. You want to completely conceal the marzipan so that it doesn't leak out in the oven

15)            Transfer each stollen to a baking tray lined with baking paper and cover with a damp kitchen towel. Allow the stollen to proof at room temperature until the dough has risen around 50% again

16)            When you're ready to bake the stollen, preheat the oven to 175C (350F)

17)            When the oven is at temperature, bake the sourdough stollen for around 45 minutes (or until it is golden brown)

18)            Remove the baked sourdough stollen from the oven and allow to cool for a bit before brushing it all over with melted butter (a pastry brush is perfect for this)

19)            Once it's cooled for around an hour, brush it again with butter and then place into a container full of powdered sugar. Lightly roll the stollen around in the powdered sugar until it's completely and evenly covered on all surfaces

20)            Now, wrap your stollens in a piece of aluminum foil and allow them to mature for at least 24 hours before you try them (it's worth the wait I promise).

Sourdough "stollen" (German Christmas loaf). One of the best things about the holidays!

(Recipe source: Best Sourdough Stollen [German Christmas Bread Recipe] - The Pantry Mama )