Christmas adit
12 servings
120 minutes
Christmas stollen is a traditional German pastry with roots in the Middle Ages. Its recognizable shape resembles the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, while the powdered sugar coating symbolizes snow. The rich flavor of this dessert comes from a combination of spices, rum, almonds, and candied fruits that soak into the yeast dough. Stollen has a dense texture and a rich aroma that develops over time: it is customary to age it before serving so that the ingredients fully meld together. In Germany, it is traditionally prepared weeks before Christmas and served at festive tables with tea or mulled wine. This dessert is not only a treat but also a symbol of celebration, coziness, and family traditions.
1
Preparation: soak raisins and seedless small raisins in rum and leave to infuse overnight.
- Dark raisins: 200 g
- Light seedless raisins: 100 g
- Rum: 100 ml
2
Yeast dough: the next day warm the milk. Sift the flour into a bowl. Place the yeast on top. Add milk, sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, flavoring, eggs and butter or margarine and mix with a mixer (using a hook attachment for firm dough) for a while on low speed and then on high speed for about 5 minutes until a smooth homogeneous dough forms. Cover the dough and leave it in a warm place until it noticeably increases in size. Lightly mix orange candied fruits, almonds, soaked raisins and seedless small raisins on a work surface lightly dusted with flour. Cover the dough again and leave it in a warm place until it noticeably increases in size. Line a baking tray with three layers of baking paper (to prevent the bottom of the stollen from darkening during baking). Preheat the oven (top/bottom heat - about 250 degrees; air temperature - about 230 degrees).
- Milk: 100 ml
- Wheat flour: 375 g
- Sugar: 50 g
- Salt: pinch
- Chicken egg: 2 pieces
- Dr.Oetker Rum Flavoring: 15 ml
- Butter: 175 g
- Ground almonds: 100 g
- Vanilla sugar Dr.Oetker: 16 g
- Candied orange peel: 100 g
- Dry yeast Dr.Oetker: 10 g
3
Form the dough into stollen. Roll it out into a rectangle (about 30x25 cm). Roll the dough lengthwise into a log and use a rolling pin to make a longitudinal indentation. Fold the dough along this indentation so that the bottom part protrudes slightly. Shape a longitudinal thickening in the middle with your hands. Place the stollen on a baking sheet, leave it in a warm place until it noticeably increases. During baking, reduce the temperature (top/bottom heat - about 160 degrees; air temperature - about 140 degrees; baking time - about 50 minutes).
- Wheat flour: 375 g
4
Melt the butter in a small container. Immediately after baking, brush the stollen with butter and cool it on a kitchen rack. Dust the stollen with powdered sugar.
- Butter: 175 g
- Powdered sugar: to taste