Authentic Stollen - The BEST German Christmas Cake

4.75 from 24 votes

Authentic Stollen - The BEST German Christmas Cake

A traditional german stollen recipe with step by step instructions. Made with raisins, marzipan and almonds, and candied lemon and orange peel, this is a Christmas classic.

Course Cake

Cuisine German

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Resting Time 1 30

Total Time 2 30

Servings stollen

Calories 4740kcal

Author by Marita Sinden

Cost 10

Equipment

Stollen baking form (optional)
handmixer
pastry brush
baking parchment
Rolling Pin

Ingredients

To soak the raisins

3 tablespoon dark rum optional
½ cups warm water
1 cups raisins

For the dough

½ cups milk
2 teaspoon instant yeast
3 ½ cups plain all-purpose-flour
1 cups unsated butter
1 cups flaked almonds
1 teaspoon gingerbread spice
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
⅓ cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoon candied orange peel
4 tablespoon candied lemon peel
2 oz marzipan

For after baking

2 tablespoon granulated sugar optional
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 cups powdered sugar

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Soaking the raisings

Soak the raisins at least 1 hour before baking (ideally the night before) in warm water and rum (optional) to prevent them from burning later.
3 tablespoon dark rum, 1 cups raisins, ½ cups warm water

To make the dough

Warm up the milk to a lukewarm temperature. Stir the yeast into the milk and mix with 100 gr / 1 cup of the flour. Leave the yeast mixture to activate for at least 45 minutes.
½ cups milk, 2 teaspoon instant yeast, 3 ½ cups plain all-purpose-flour
In the meantime, heat your oven to 200°C or 392°F.
Spread the almonds on a tray and toast until they are about golden brown (about 10 minutes, but make sure to check so they don’t burn)
1 cups flaked almonds
Drain the raisins.

Make the main dough

Mix the yeast mixture with the remaining flour, sugar, salt, gingerbread spice, vanilla extract, and butter. Knead to a tough dough. (Don't worry—it is supposed to be hard work!)
1 teaspoon gingerbread spice, 2 teaspoon vanilla extract, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cups powdered sugar, 1 cups unsated butter
Combine the raisins, almonds, candied lemon, and orange peel into the dough. Be careful not to knead too vigorously, as the raisins could burst and color the dough.
4 tablespoon candied lemon peel, 2 tablespoon candied orange peel
Flatten the middle of the dough using a rolling pin.
Now form the dough into about 30 cm (12 inches) long roll.
Once flattened, add the marzipan in little flakes onto the dough. Do not put the marzipan too close to the edge, as it may burn.
2 oz marzipan, 1 cups flaked almonds
Now fold the dough from left to right into the middle. This is how you achieve the traditional stollen form.
Leave to rest for around 40 minutes.
Place the stollen on a tray lined with parchment paper. If using a stollen form, cover the stollen with it. If not, cover the stollen with an additional sheet of parchment paper 10 minutes into baking to prevent it from browning too much
Bake for 40 minutes at 200°C or 392°F

After baking

After removing the stollen from the oven, use a brush to apply the melted butter on top. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. This will help seal in moisture.
2 tablespoon unsalted butter, 2 tablespoon granulated sugar
Once cooled, sprinkle with plenty of powdered sugar.
1 cups powdered sugar
You can eat it immediately, but it's better to wrap it in aluminum foil and store in a cool, dry place for two weeks to allow the flavors to develop.

Notes

Please see detailed step by steps instructions in the main post.

The post includes details on how to serve stollen, how to store it and freezing instructions.

Nutrition