Traditional Dresden Stollen

On December 8, 2018, the 25th anniversary of the Dresden Stollenfest began in Dresden, Germany. And this means, guys, that it’s time to soak the raisins if you also want to get a taste of what a real Christmas stollen is, the recipe for which I will now show you.

Stollen - the state pride of the Germans - is a common Christmas pastry made from yeast dough with a lot of dried fruits and spices. There are several traditional stollen recipes in Germany, but specifically the Dresden stollen is considered the most famous in Germany and famous throughout the world.

On these days, certified stollen bakers from all over the country come to Stollenfest, parade along the main streets of the town and carry a huge stollen, which is later cut and distributed (obviously at a cost) to everyone present.

Photo from the Dresden Stollen Facebook page: Dresdner Christstollen

During the Christmas holidays, no German feast is complete without a spicy, comforting stollen.

In recent years, stollen, together with Italian panettone, began to gain unprecedented popularity in our country.

You have been asking me for a proven recipe for a long time, and once again I could not refuse you.

I started preparing this material last year. I dug through a bunch of German resources and studied the entire official website of the Dresden Stollen Association and it seems to me that I already understand everything about it .

Noteworthy facts about stollen

⇒ The oval shape of the Christmas cupcake, covered with sweet powder, symbolizes the newborn Jesus, wrapped in white swaddling clothes.

⇒ Only 120 bakeries and confectioneries that are members of the German Dresdner Stollen Association have the right to bake real Dresden Stollen. And to this day his unique recipe is kept in the strictest confidence from the ordinary tradesman. Therefore, all the recipes wandering on the Internet, especially their Russian versions, are quite indicative.

⇒ Bakers have different ideas regarding the ripening of stollen. Some say that stollen acquires its richest and most pleasant taste 1 week after production, others say that the standard is 2-3 weeks, and still others recommend storing stollen for at least 2 months. It's a matter of everyone's taste.

It is prohibited to Dresden stollen .

⇒ The traditional Dresden stollen must contain 12 ingredients:

raisin
rum
flour
yeast
milk
sugar
oil
lemon zest
candied fruit
almond
sweet powder
spice mixture

You see, there are no testicles . Therefore, know that the presence of eggs in stollen is the first sign that the recipe is not completely traditional.

Traditional stollen recipe

For 2 stollen, 900 g each. any (And believe me, this is not enough. We received one in the first 2 days, and the second was left to ripen).

Ingredients:

light raisins - 300 gr.
black rum - 100-200 gr.
flour - 600 gr.
yeast, fresh - 40 gr.
milk - 200 ml
butter, softened - 225 gr. (+75 g for greasing ready-made stollen)
sugar - 50 gr.
salt – ½ tsp.
spice mixture for stollen* - 5 g. (see below↓)
zest of ½ lemon
peeled almonds - 50 gr.
bitter almonds - 5 gr. or almond extract - 1 tsp. ( promo code for discount POR7412 ) (added optionally, for marzipan flavor)
candied lemon (or citron) and orange - 125 gr. (can be created without the help of others)
sweet powder - 75 gr.

*Honestly, I don’t understand what specific spices are added to real stollen. I looked at a bunch of German stores that sell spice mixtures for stollen. Some sources provide the entire list of spices listed below, while others provide only nutmeg or cardamom and vanilla.

I think this: if the smell of good butter, raisins and rum is more important to you, then add only cardamom, nutmeg and vanilla. And if you love spicy baked goods, then mix all these spices in the indicated proportions and add 5 grams to the dough. acquired consistency.

nutmeg, ground - ½ tsp. (certainly)
cardamom, ground - ¼ tsp. (certainly)
cinnamon, ground – ½ tsp.
allspice, ground – ½ tsp.
ginger, ground - ½ tsp.
cloves, ground - ½ tsp.
coriander, ground - ¼ tsp.
vanilla - 1 pod or vanilla sugar with natural vanilla - 8 g.

Step-by-step production with photos

We wash the raisins in hot water, dry them with a cardboard towel and pour in rum just until the rum covers the raisins for a day.

If you feel sorry for the rum, you can reduce the dose by half, but at the same time stir the raisins with rum often.

Below I recorded a video about how to correctly form stollen ⇓

Due to the high content of fat and sugar, stollen can be stored for up to 3 months. Professional bakers say that after some time after baking stollen, spices and dried fruits reveal their odors better. But one week is enough for this .

The taste of stollen is quite specific and will directly depend on the spices and alcohol you use. Personally, I really liked him the next day. At the same time, it actually became much more aromatic and tastier than immediately after baking. I can't wait for 3 weeks to pass so I can taste the final version.

The texture of stollen is also very fascinating and unlike anything else. The crumb is dense, but soft. I would say this is something between a gingerbread cookie and a cupcake in its traditional sense.

And this is how stollen were prepared in Germany many years ago. Historical video:

Dresden Christmas Stollen

The history of the Dresden stollen dates back to the 15th century. It was baked on Christmas Eve, and the shape of the cupcake was supposed to symbolize Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. Making stollen is a long and troublesome procedure; the finished cake must, according to the rules, rest for two weeks in order to be thoroughly saturated with all the odors assigned to it. Stollen was baked during Advent, a time of Catholic fasting and preparation for the holiday; the original recipe for the cake was lean - only flour, salt, yeast and vegetable oil. Spices at that time were a hard-to-find luxury. Therefore, the taste of the first stollen was far from the sweet masterpiece that we can experience now.

425 g raisins
50 g peeled almonds
70 g candied orange peel
70 g candied lemon peel
50 ml dark rum

400 g marzipan 70%

125 g flour
100 ml milk at room temperature
50 g new yeast

250 g butter
100 g sweet powder

25 g ground nutmeg
12 g ground cardamom
2 g vanilla seeds
2 g grated lemon zest
10 g ground cinnamon
3 g ground cloves

600 g flour
325 g butter
75 g sugar
2 yolks
6 g salt
10 g spice consistency

STEP-BY-STEP COOKING RECIPE

Stollen needs ripening so that the impregnation and spices become part of the dough. Wrap the finished cake in parchment, then in foil. Pack loosely in a bag and put in the refrigerator. You can forget about it for two weeks.

The recipe was developed and provided by Atilla Szabo, pastry chef at the Metropol Hotel.

Atilla Sabo wanted to become a pastry chef from his youth. The likely reason is her grandmother's apple pie, which Attila still loves and cooks for family and friends exactly according to her recipe. He studied in Hungary, interned in Germany, and worked in recognizable global hotel chains. Now he is the pastry chef of the capital's Metropol Hotel. But wherever Atilla Szabo presented his art, strudels and Viennese pastries were and will always be on his menu; he prepares them in all kitchens of the world.

Atilla knows that in his homeland, Hungary, every holiday begins with soup and meat, and always ends with a sweet pie. At Christmas it's time for strudels, bagels and Gugelhupf. He understands their recipes from his youth, but, according to Atilla, “it’s better to leave the tastes of youth there.” Now he is practicing his newest take on classic sweet recipes.

Atilla Sabo

Dresden Christmas Stollen

Ingredients

Flour – 750 g +- 50 g (for working with dough)

Instant yeast – 14-15 g

Salt – 1 pinch

Butter – 125 g (for the dough) + 70-80 g (for greasing the cake)

Sweet powder – 250 g

Interior:

Candied orange peel – 60 g

Candied lemon peel – 40 g

Dried cranberries/cherries – 50 g (optional)

Candied pineapple – 50 g (optional)

Rum/cognac – 350-500 ml

Lemon – 0.5 pcs. (juice and zest)

Ground cinnamon - 1 tsp.

Nutmeg – 0.25 tsp.

Vanilla sugar - to taste

289 kcal
5 hours
5 hours

Photo of the finished dish

Video recipe: Dresden Christmas Stollen

Step-by-step recipe with photos and videos

Dresden Christmas Stollen is an indescribably delicious, chic festive cake with dried fruits, nuts and spices. Such a cupcake is a good option for a homemade gift, a beautiful addition to a cup of coffee or tea, and, of course, a wonderful celebratory treat.

Quite inconspicuous in appearance (for which it received the nickname “Dresden Monster”), stollen is indescribably seductive in cut and completely unforgettable in taste. Bursting with nutty and fruity innards, flavorful and juicy, this cake captivates with its texture and flavor from the first bite. Try it!

Prepare the ingredients according to the list.

The day before baking, prepare the filling. Peel the almonds. To do this, pour boiling water over the nuts and leave for a couple of minutes. Then drain the hot water and pour cool water over the nuts. After such a “contrast shower”, peeling the nuts will be very simple.

Place the peeled nuts in an oven preheated to 180 degrees and, stirring, fry until golden brown.

Chop the roasted nuts with a knife or grind in a blender in pulsation mode. Don't try to get a very fine grind, let some of the pieces remain large. This will give the taste of stollen additional charm.

Combine all the ingredients of the insides: raisins, cooked almonds and candied fruits. I add chopped homemade candied lemon and orange peels, also, for contrast, a little dried cranberries and candied pineapple peels. You can use a mixture of candied fruits or just candied citrus fruits from lemon and orange peels - in any case it will turn out very tasty. Stir everything thoroughly and place the mixture in an airtight container or jar.

Pour in rum or cognac, seal the container tightly and let the mixture sit for at least a day.

On baking day, first remove the butter from the refrigerator - it must warm to room temperature. Sift the wheat flour.

Separate approximately 150 grams of flour and add half the sugar, yeast and a small pinch of salt.

Pour in warm milk and stir everything thoroughly.

Cover the container with cling film and a towel and place the mixture in a warm corner of the kitchen for 40-50 minutes.

Then add warm butter, the remaining half of the sugar and another 200-300 grams of flour. Mix the ingredients and knead into a smooth, soft dough. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes.

Place the dough in an oiled container, cover with a towel or cling film and let rest for another 35-50 minutes.

Mitsubishi Pajero “Egoist” › Logbook › Gastronomic 5. Unique Dresden Christmas stollen.

Auto travelers in Germany will pay attention to one unusual German seasonal delicacy - this is the Dresden Christmas stollen.
It's easier to say cupcake. Stollen (German Stollen or German Christstollen) is a common German Christmas pastry.
The more common type of stollen is filled with raisins and candied fruits, although options with poppy seeds, nuts or marzipan are also popular. For stollen, heavy yeast dough is prepared, and certain proportions must be observed. For stollen with candied fruits: for 10 kg of flour - at least 3 kg of butter or margarine and 6 kg of candied lemon and orange peels. Obviously, any baker has his own recipe-composition of seasonings and spices, which give the stollen of different bakers a slightly different taste. After baking, the stollen is coated with melted butter and sprinkled with sweet powder. Stollen are baked well in advance, occasionally a month before Christmas, and can be stored in a cold place for two to three months. Stollen is an ordinary German pastry, which, with its shape and snow-white color, was supposed to “recall” the Christ Child wrapped in swaddling clothes. The first time stollen was mentioned in writing was in 1329 in Naumburg an der Saale as a Christmas offering to the local bishop. Then stollen were eaten during the Nativity Fast, so the yeast dough was prepared in water with the addition of rapeseed oil. The taste of such stollen caused dissatisfaction among the German nobles, and in the middle of the 15th century. Saxon Elector Ernst and his brother Baron Albrecht appealed to Father Nicholas V with a request to lift the ban on the introduction of butter, but were refused. Only in 1491, Pope Innocent VIII, in his breve, known as “butter”, agreed to the substitution of rapeseed oil for butter in the production of stollen, but with the condition of “repentance” in the form of monetary support for the construction of Freiberg Cathedral. Thus, we can say that the Pope took part in the development of the modern recipe. According to legend, the idea of adding high-calorie ingredients - fruits and nuts - to the Christmas stollen came to the court baker Heinrich Drazdo from Torgau. "Drazdov Stollen" enjoyed success throughout Saxony.

The Dresden stollen, the more famous type of stollen, was first mentioned in 1474 as part of an invoice issued to the Dresden court. Since 1500, Dresden Stollen has been frequently sold at the Striezelmarkt, the Christmas market in Dresden. In 1560, a tradition arose that Dresden bakers had to hand over huge Christmas cakes (Stollen) weighing 36 pounds to the powerful princes. In 1648, Dresden bakers reached the point where they began to sell only stollen made in Dresden at this market.

Types of stollen:
Butterstollen (butter stollen) - Traditional stollen involves the following ingredients per 100 kg of flour: 40 kg of butter or margarine, 70 kg of dried fruit, candied lemon and orange peel.
Up to 10 kg of dried fruits can be changed to almonds or marzipan. Dresdner Christstollen (Dresden Stollen) - The Dresden Stollen is a registered geographical mark, so officially this title can only be given to stollen that are hand-made in Dresden or its districts in compliance with the correct proportions.
All bakers must be members of the Schutzverband Dresdner Stollen. All Dresden Stollen undergo frequent official inspections. Only after this they have the right to wear a special seal. Mandelstollen (almond stollen) - This stollen contains a minimum of 20 kg of almonds per 100 kg of flour.
Candied fruits can also be added, but not raisins. Marzipanstollen (marzipan stollen) - In addition to dried fruits, marzipan or persipan interior is used, accounting for 5% of the weight of the stollen.
Mohnstollen (poppy stollen) - Contains a minimum of 20 kg of poppy seed per 100 kg of flour.
Dried fruits and candied fruits can also be added. This stollen is most often made as a roll. Nussstollen (nut stollen) - This stollen must contain a minimum of 20 kg of nuts per 100 kg of flour.
Quarkstollen (curd stollen) - Must contain at least 40 kg of cottage cheese or curd products and 20 kg of butter or margarine per 100 kg of flour.
Dried fruits and candied fruits can also be added. Champagnerstollen (champagne stollen) - This is a young type of stollen, which appeared only in 2003.
It differs in that the raisins are soaked overnight in champagne. „westfalenbäcker“ - Stollen (Westphalian bakers' stollen) - The Westfalen-Lippe bakers' association has developed a stollen consisting only of ingredients from our region. Almonds were replaced with hazelnuts. Instead of raisins and candied fruits, dried apples, plums and cherries are used. Rum is replaced with apple vodka (German: Apfelkorn).