This homemade Stollen recipe yields a tender loaf with a texture more like cake or brioche than bread. While not strictly traditional in method, it yields a moist, flavourful loaf. Perfect for a Christmas breakfast, afternoon tea or for gift giving.

Yields 2 medium or 4 small loaves.

Homemade Stollen Recipe

Ingredients

150g butter, softened to spoonable consistency, plus 50g reserved for melting

1 large egg

400g plain flour

1 teaspoon dry yeast

2 tablespoons sugar

Zest of one lemon

2 teaspoons cardamom cinnamon

2 teaspoons ground cardamom

1 teaspoon salt

300g dried fruit mixture

50g candied ginger

50g candied cherries

¼ cup sherry or whiskey or bourbon

300g marzipan

2 cups icing sugar

Method

1. Place the fruit, alcohol and 3 tablespoons of water in a saucepan. Place on low heat. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes or until liquid has been absorbed by fruit. Set aside and allow to cool.
2. Whisk together the egg, sugar, lemon zest and spices.
3. In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, add the flour and salt. Once cool, drain the fruit and pour the remaining liquid into the bowl with the flour.
4. In a 1/3 of warm water, sprinkle over the yeast and allow to bubble and foam for 5-10 minutes.
5. Once foaming, add yeast mixture to the flour and mix until a shaggy dough forms. About 2 minutes with a dough hook or 8 minutes by hand.
6. Add the egg mixture and allow to mix for an additional 2-3 minutes until incorporated.
7. Add butter 2 tablespoons at a time while mixing the dough until incorporated.
8. Add the soaked dried fruit. Knead dough until it forms a cohesive ball, about 10 minutes on the dough hook or 15-20 minutes solid mixing by hand!
9. Place dough in a large greased bowl and cover. Allow to rise for 1 ½ hours.
10. Grease 2 medium or 4 small loaf pans
11. Cut the dough into 2 or 4 pieces and roll into rectangles about 1cm thick.
12. Roll out marzipan between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper until each is large enough to cover either the 2 medium or 4 small rectangles of dough.
13. Roll up the rectangles into a log. Tuck the ends under and place the log, end size down into the loaf tin. Repeat with remaining. Allow to rise for an additional hour.
14. Preheat oven to 175 degrees Celsius.
15. Bake loaves for 45-60 minutes and allow to cool.
16. Melt reserved 50g butter and brush cooled stollens all over, then dust completely with sifted icing sugar.

Fridge and Freezer

Will keep for up to one week in an air tight container, or well wrapped and packaged for gifting. Ensure stollens are completely cool before packing or wrapping.

After loaves have been formed and placed in tins, these can be frozen for up to 2 months until needed. To bake, remove from freezer and allow to defrost and place in a warm spot to proof and increase in size by 1/3 for about 2 hours. Bake as above.

Baked stollens can be frozen for up to 2 months.