Stollen Recipe | Jamie Oliver (2024)

FAQs

How long will homemade stollen keep? ›

Meanwhile, melt the extra butter, then brush over the loaf, sprinkle with icing sugar, and repeat this several times until the stollen has a white glaze. Allow to cool, wrap well and store for at least two days – and up to a week – before tucking in.

To ensure the fruits impart moisture to the stollen, the fruits are plumped by an overnight soak in rum (Myer's Dark Rum is my favorite) or brandy.

Make sure to cover your bread in plastic food wrap to ensure it stays moist. On the other hand, if you want to keep your Stollen for longer than that, for example a year then it is safe to freeze.

Stollen can often be dry and tasteless. The key in my recipe is to soak the fruit at least 24 hours before you want to make it. I would advocate even longer; 5-7 days if you can because the longer the better.

Stollen is supposed to be dense, on account of all that butter and fruit weighing it down, making it tough for the yeast to do its job. If you want your stollen a little lighter, let the dough rise on its own for an hour or two, then punch it out and add the fruit, folding the dough over it and gently kneading it in.

Stollen (German: [ˈʃtɔlən] or German: [ʃtɔln]) is a fruit bread of nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit, coated with powdered sugar or icing sugar and often containing marzipan. It is a traditional German Christmas bread.

Think of a Stollen as the love child of a fruit cake and a loaf of bread: it's typically baked from a yeasty dough (replete with dried fruit soaked in rum), then covered in icing sugar. Like you'd expect, you eat a Stollen in slices, often with your coffee or Christmas punch. Some people put butter and jam on it.

My new favorite way to enjoy Stollen is to slice it fairly thinly and then toast it under the broiler. I especially like Stollen with Marzipan and toasting this kind of Stollen softens the almond paste so it's creamy and warm. The toasting also brings out the nutty flavor and punches up the dried fruits.

No, generally you do not need to refrigerate or freeze your stollen. If you will not be eating the bread for a few months, you may want to store it in the freezer. Otherwise, storing your stollen at room temperature in a bread box or drawer will allow it to last for months.

If your stollen has become discolored and you wish to improve the appearance, simply sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top before serving.

Why does stollen not rise? ›

Dough that has expired yeast, too much salt, all-purpose or cake flour, or antifungal spices like cinnamon might have trouble rising.

Stollen will last up to a year if you keep it frozen, but we recommend eating it within 6 months for best flavor. At room temperature (under cool and dry conditions) stollen will last for weeks, but refrigeration will extend it's life substantially.

Stollen has a very long life when packaged. Keep it wrapped well after slicing, perhaps even storing it in the refrigerator and letting it come to room temperature before serving.

Minimum shelf life from purchase:

Dresdner Christstollen ® – Raisin Stollen: at least 16 weeks. Almond stollen: at least 6 weeks. Marzipanstollen: at least 6 weeks. Poppy seed cake: at least 2 weeks.

Due to its high content of fats and fruits, Stollen keeps fresh and can be stored for a long time before getting rancid or stale.