Stollen is a lovely cake for Christmas and packed with all the flavours of the festive season.

  • 60mins+ proving time
  • Medium

Ingredients

  • For the filling
  • 75g sultanas
  • 30g dried cranberries
  • 30g chopped dried apricots
  • 4 tbsp fresh orange juice
  • For the dough
  • 50g soft butter
  • 25g caster sugar
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ground allspice
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1x 7g sachet of fast-action dried yeast
  • 170g strong white flour
  • 15g flaked almonds
  • 75g good quality marzipan
  • To finish
  • 100g butter, melted
  • 30g smooth apricot jam
  • 45g butter
  • 25g caster sugar
  • Icing sugar to serve.

Method

This is a lighter version than a traditional Stollen but still with all those lovely flavours. Do not be put off by the lengthy list of ingredients in the recipe, seriously, this is not difficult to make.

To make the filling start with the fruit mixture. Pop all the fruits into a large bowl and sprinkle over the orange juice. Stir well then set to one side for a couple of hours while you make the dough.

For the dough, beat the butter and sugar together in a large bowl, until light and creamy. Add the salt, the allspice, vanilla and give the mixture another beat. Whisk in the beaten eggs a small amount at a time. Finally, add the yeast followed by one final good whisking.

Dust your worktop with plenty of flour, knead the dough in the flour until you have a smooth dough. A stollen dough is heavier than a regular bread dough because of the eggs.

Pop the dough back into the bowl, cover with a damp tea towel somewhere warm, but not hot. Leave to rise for about 1 ½  hours.

Put more flour on the worktop. Tip out the dough and roll into a square about 24cm x 24cm. Spread the fruit evenly over the dough leaving a small margin around the edges. Sprinkle over the almonds, followed by small lumps of the marzipan down the centre.

Fold the dough over the fruit filling so it looks like a sausage roll, tuck the seam so it is underneath and in the centre.  Slip the stollen onto a parchment covered baking sheet. Cover with a damp cloth and leave to rise for a further hour.

Preheat the oven to 200C /400F/ Gas 6.

Once the oven is heated, place a roasting tin half filled with cold water on the lowest shelf. Lower the temperature slightly and bake the Stollen for 25 minutes or until slightly puffed up and golden brown.

Place on a cooling rack and brush generously with the melted butter, several times then leave to cool completely.

For the glaze, melt the butter, jam, butter and sugar in a saucepan. Let the mixture boil for 2 minutes then remove from the heat. Brush the glaze all over the Stollen, allow to set, then glaze again.

Drench with sieved icing sugar and serve. The stollen keeps well wrapped in greaseproof paper in an airtight tin, or freeze if not using straight away.

About The Author

Following a successful career as a chef and restaurateur, Yorkshire's Elaine Lemm is a highly respected food and drink writer and recently voted one of the top 50 in the UK. Elaine is a member of the Guild of Food Writers and author of three books,The Great Book of Yorkshire Pudding, The Great Book of Rhubarb and The Great Book of Tea.

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