Panettone has revolutionized the gastronomic world, crossing borders and becoming one of the most popular desserts. They come in different flavors: traditional, pistachio,
However, very few know his German counterpart: stollen, a type of sweet Christmas bread, similar to the Three Kings roscón, composed of a dough containing almonds, raisins and candied fruits, and with a surface sprinkled with powdered sugar.
Its origins date back to 15th centuryin the city of Dresden, and although each family has its own version, the vast majority are usually made with fruits macerated in rum, butter and marzipan. One of its advantages is that its flavor improves if it is allowed to pass for a few days.
In general, this christmas dessert It is usually consumed with sweet wines or. Its design is reminiscent of Baby Jesus’ diaper, which is why it is consumed at Christmas. To prepare a large stollen it will usually take between 3.5 and 5 hours.
Stollen in German
Ingredients and recipe for German panettone
To carry out the ‘panettone alemán’ You will need: one hour to macerate the fruits, twenty minutes to prepare the dough, between one and two hours to make the first rise, half an hour for the second rise, forty or fifty minutes to bake it and finally thirty minutes to cool it and finish it. Regarding its ingredients you must have:
- 500 g strong flour
- 25 g of fresh yeast (or 7 g of dry yeast failing that)
- 200 ml of time milk
- 150 g melted butter (more for brushing)
- 100g sugar
- 1 egg
- 200 g raisins
- 100 g of various candied fruits
- 50 g chopped almonds
- 50 g candied orange peel
- 2 tablespoons rum (optional)
- 200 g marzipan (optional)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 pinch of salt
- Powdered sugar to sprinkle
The recipe is simple. Macerate the raisins, fruits, orange peel and almonds with the rum for one hour. Then, mix the yeast with warm milk and a tablespoon of sugar. Wait about 10 minutes for it to reach a foamy texture. Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and lemon zest in a bowl. Once these steps have been completed, add the yeast mixture, vanilla essence, egg and melted butter and knead it.
Put the macerated fruits and knead everything again. Let it rest in a bowl until it increases at least double in volume. Stretch the dough into a rectangle, except if you have used marzipan, in this case you must form a cylinder, place it in the center and seal the edges by closing it.
Cover the dough in a tray and let the yeast act for another half hour. Put the stollen in the oven (you should have preheated the oven beforehand) until it is golden brown and until it sounds dry when tapped. When you take it out, brush it with butter and sprinkle icing sugar. For best flavor, it is recommended to leave it stored for at least a week before tasting it. In total, this recipe will make a stollen of between 12 and 16 servings.
