The most famous and celebrated Stollen is Dresdner Stollen, now trademarked, from the city of Dresden in Saxony. It is laden with fruit and is made with double cream and lots of butter. For me, it is inseparable from Christmas. Usually, my parents would be given a Stollen as a Christmas gift and it was a real treat on the coffee table. It keeps extremely well and needs several weeks to mature and unfold all its flavours.
German Baking by Jürgen Krauss is published by Kyle Books, £26.00, www.octopusbooks.co.uk
Christmas Stollen, Dresden-Style is a guest recipe by Jürgen Krauss so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe
For the starter, mix the flour, instant yeast and cream together and leave to stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Then place the starter in the fridge overnight.
Place the raisins, sultanas and currants in a bowl. Add the rum. Pour as much of the boiling water over the fruit as needed to just cover them. Cover with clingfilm and leave to stand overnight.
The next day, prepare the dough. Mix together the starter, both flours, sugar, yeast, spices and lemon zest. Work the butter into this mix and knead. This might seem impossible at first, but it will come together nicely. I like to do this in a 10-litre bowl using my hands. Normal household mixers won’t be able to cope with this dough. Drain the dried fruit and add to the dough, along with the mixed peel and ground almonds, and incorporate into the dough. Again, this might seem impossible, but with a big plastic spatula and a lot of patience it will come together.
With your hands push the dough into a rectangle and fold it lengthwise onto itself. Use a bit of flour if it gets too sticky. You can make one large Stollen or a few smaller ones, but I wouldn’t recommend making Stollen smaller than 800g; I find larger Stollen give a better texture. Transfer the Stollen onto a lined baking sheet and leave to prove at room temperature for about 2 hours. The Stollen will hardly rise.
Preheat the oven to 170°C fan/gas mark 5. Bake the Stollen for 1–1½ hours, depending on size. It should be dark golden brown. If it gets dark too early, cover it with foil. While the Stollen is still hot, brush it with melted butter until it is saturated. Once cool, cover the Stollen in plenty of icing sugar and keep it in an airtight container or plastic bag for at least 3 weeks before cutting into it. It will last for several months in an airtight container.
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