Stollen

Rich cake that requires three days to make. The dough contains lots of butter and little sugar; the final sugar comes mainly from the decoration. The recipe makes two stollen of about 650 g; one can be frozen once shaped to complete the third proof later.
baked
bread
dessert
traditional
vegetarian

Yield: 2 stollen of about 650 g

Ingredients
Servings
2
Measurement units

Dough

  • 400 gstrong flour W380 or W400, “00” fineness
  • 9 gSAF Golden-type osmotolerant instant dry baker’s yeast
  • 55-60 gsize L egg
  • 140 mlwhole milk
  • 9 gsalt
  • 50 gsugar
  • 240 gsoftened but still pliable butter
  • 1 unitlemon
  • 1 unitorange
  • 1 gground cardamom
  • 1 gground cinnamon
  • 1 gground cloves
  • 1 ggrated nutmeg

Filling

  • 100 mlrum, calvados, or cognac
  • 200 graisins
  • 60 gcandied orange
  • 60 gcandied lemon
  • 80 gsliced almonds

Topping

  • butter
  • icing sugar
Nutritional Information

Per 100 g

Calories
329 kcal
Protein
5.4 g
Fat
15.7 g
Carbohydrates
40.9 g

Calculated from reviewed ingredient weights and pinned USDA FoodData Central records.

Step-by-step Guide

Day 1: prepare the poolish

  1. Soak the raisins in the liqueur, cover them with plastic wrap, and set aside.
  2. Place 100 g flour, 100 ml milk, and the yeast appropriate to the type you have chosen in a bowl.
  3. Mix vigorously and leave to rest at room temperature for 3 hours, covered with plastic wrap.
  4. Put the poolish in the refrigerator until the next day.

Day 2: knead the dough and incorporate the filling

  1. Take the poolish out of the refrigerator and leave it at room temperature for 2–3 hours before using it.
  2. Cut the candied fruit into small cubes and, if you wish, soak it with the raisins for one hour.
  3. Drain the raisins and candied fruit if you have soaked them, and set aside.
  4. Place the remaining flour (350 g), remaining milk (90 ml), spices, sugar, egg, pinch of salt, and orange and lemon zests in a bowl.
  5. Mix well for 3 minutes.
  6. Leave the dough to rest for 10 minutes.
  7. Begin kneading in 2-minute intervals, with 10-minute rests.
  8. Repeat three kneading-and-rest sequences.
  9. Add the butter little by little, as the dough incorporates it.
  10. Once the butter is incorporated, continue kneading in sequences of 2 minutes of kneading and 15 minutes of rest.
  11. Repeat four kneading-and-rest sequences.
  12. Check that the dough pulls away from the sides and passes the windowpane test; if it does not pass, repeat the rests and kneading until it does.
  13. You should obtain a soft but non-sticky ball.
  14. When the dough is ready, add the sliced almonds to the bowl of fruit and mix well.
  15. Incorporate the candied fruit into the dough and knead slowly so that it mixes in.
  16. Flour the work surface very lightly and turn the dough out onto it.
  17. Finish kneading it gently by folding it over itself, until the fruit is well distributed.
  18. Shape the dough into a ball.
  19. Leave it to rest in bulk at room temperature, in a covered bowl lightly greased with oil, until it increases by 1/3 in volume.
  20. Once it has risen, leave the covered bowl in the refrigerator until the next day.

Day 3: shape, carry out the third proof, and bake

Day 3: shape, carry out the third proof, and bake (1/3)
Day 3: shape, carry out the third proof, and bake (2/3)
Day 3: shape, carry out the third proof, and bake (3/3)
  1. Take the dough out of the refrigerator and allow it to come to room temperature for two hours.
  2. Line the baking tray with baking paper.
  3. Turn the dough out onto the clean, unfloured work surface.
  4. Divide the dough into two pieces of equal weight and shape them into two balls.
  5. Leave the pieces to rest for 20 minutes.
  6. With each ball, form a thick rectangular piece about 2 cm thick, pressing lightly with your hand.
  7. Roll it out with a rolling pin, pressing gently from the center of the rectangle’s longer side toward the edges, without reaching them; the center should be 1 cm thick and the edges about 2 cm.
  8. The final size should be about 30 cm × 15 cm.
  9. Using a spatula, lift one long side and fold it over the other side, overlapping it slightly.
  10. Turn the piece backward so that the top edge rests on the thin central part, and press the upper edge lightly with your fingers so that the dough does not come apart.
  11. If you wish to freeze one of the stollen, transfer it onto baking paper lightly buttered and place it directly in the freezer, uncovered, for 45 minutes so that the surface firms up.
  12. After this time, remove it, wrap it in plastic wrap, and return it to the freezer.
  13. If you make both stollen at the same time, allow enough space on the tray so that they do not touch as they rise.
  14. Transfer the stollen onto the paper on the baking tray and leave it to rest until it has risen again to one and a half times its volume.
  15. When 3/4 of an hour remain before baking, preheat the oven to 190 °C.
  16. Bake at 195 °C for 30–45 minutes, depending on the size of the stollen.
  17. Check doneness with a thermometer: the interior of the dough must reach 88–90 °C.
  18. Remove it from the oven and remove any protruding raisins and candied fruit, as they will have burned too much and would make the flavor bitter.
  19. Leave it to cool on a wire rack.
  20. While it is still hot, brush the top with melted butter.
  21. Leave it to cool completely and, when cold, brush it again with melted butter.
  22. Finish with plenty of icing sugar on top.
  23. Once cold, cover it with a cloth and leave it until the next day so that it dries out a little.
  24. Store it wrapped in baking paper and then inside a zip-type bag, or wrapped directly in plastic wrap; it can be stored for 3 weeks without issue.
  25. The recipe states that it should be left for at least two weeks before consuming, but this is not verified in the source.
Recommendations & Tricks
  • It takes three days to make.
  • It is a cake with a lot of butter and little sugar in the dough (the sugar goes on the finish).
  • To handle the dough well, make a batch that yields two cakes of about 650 g.
  • Use a yeast suited to rich doughs (SAF Golden; if using ordinary dry yeast, a little more).
Original recipe
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    Stollen | The Catalan Table