a picture of sliced stollen cake on a white plate

Christmas Stollen

40 minutes

Scroll to the bottom of the Method to see questions Lindsey has answered on this recipe

This recipe is from Delia's Happy Christmas.

At Christmas time in Austria, Germany and parts of France they traditionally serve something called stollen: it is a rich fruity yeast bread filled with almond icing (marzipan) and topped with a light glace icing.

If you have a number of people staying over the holiday this is wonderful served warmed through at breakfast. If it is not all eaten when it's fresh, you can also lightly toast it in slices. In fact it is so good it's worth making two and freezing one (it freezes beautifully).

The Delia Online Cookery School: You can now watch how to make Christmas Stollen, just click on the image to play. This adaptation of the recipe in Delia's Happy Christmas book has been developed to be less complicated, using easy bake yeast, combining all the ingredients in the bowl from the start and less kneading. The extra liquid is needed to make the dough this way. It’s 10g less sugar but the extra cherries add sweetness and colour and we all like the increased lemon zest. So although the two recipes vary in their ingredients, they will both work and are correct.

Got a question on Delia's recipes? Ask Lindsey

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Homemade marzipan for Stollen

Asked by: Maartje2021

Hallo again, Lindsey Please could you tell me what quantity of marzipan Delia’s marzipan recipe produces in weight? I am half-Dutch and want to make Delia’s stollen for the first time. Stollen is traditional in Holland — it’s not just Austrian! Delia’s stollen recipe calls for 175g marzipan, but her marzipan recipe only mentions how big a cake you can cover it with, rather than what weight it produces.

Answered by Lindsey: Hello again! This recipe will make about 375 - 400g. So I’d make half for the stollen recipe. Kind regards Lindsey

Keeping Stollen

Asked by: ros

Hi Lindsey How can I extend the shelf life of Delia’s stollen recipe? I want to make the stollen and gift it for Christmas and I would like to give the recipient some instructions on storage. Thank you

Answered by Lindsey: Hello, We freeze stollen. This can be done whole or in pieces or even slices. Whichever way, very well wrapped to prevent any fast deterioration. It will keep frozen or up to 3 months. Kind regards Lindsey

Stollen is over browned

Asked by: Mazz

Hi Lindsey, I’ve made the Christmas stollen and it has over browned in 35 minutes. I didn’t use the fan oven. Shall I reduce the temperature, cover it with foil half way through cooking or cook it for less time?

Answered by Lindsey: Hello, It can be a little on the dark side. If it’s very dark it could be that your oven is running a little high – in which case I would reduce the temperature a little. If you haven’t got one an oven thermometer is useful to make sure. Also, as the stollen is quite large I position the oven shelf below the centre of the oven so the stollen sits nicely in the centre. Kind regards Lindsey

Method

First put 300g of the flour, together with the salt and yeast, into a mixing bowl and give it a quick mix.

Sprinkle in the currants, candied peel, sultanas, apricots, glace cherries, chopped almonds, lemon zest and caster sugar and give it all a stir before making a well in the centre. Then add the butter and pour over the hand-hot milk. Add the beaten egg and mix everything together with a spatula - until the mixture is well blended. Now sprinkle 25g flour on to a board (you’ll need this because the mixture is very sticky), and pile the mixture on top. Then turn the dough over in the flour and knead lightly to form a ball.

Now return the dough to its bowl and place it in a polythene bag closed with a clip and leave it at room temperature until it has doubled in size (the time this takes can vary depending on the temperature – it could take up to 2 hours). After that, turn the risen dough out on to a board floured with the remaining 25g of flour. Punch the air out of it and knead it back into a smooth ball and then shape the dough out to an oblong about 15 x 20 cm with a floured rolling pin.

Using your hands, roll out the marzipan to form a sausage shape about 14cm long and place width ways in the centre of the dough, finishing just short of the edges. Simply bring one side over the marzipan, followed by the other. Then carefully turn it over, so that the seam is underneath, and place it diagonally on the baking sheet, allowing plenty of room for expansion.

Put the whole thing in one, or you may need two, lightly oiled polythene bags and leave it to prove in a warm place until it has doubled in size again. (This will take about an hour).

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C gas mark 4

Remove the bag and bake for 40 minutes in the centre of the oven. Allow it to cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes before lifting it on to a wire rack. Meanwhile make the glaze by mixing the sifted icing sugar with the lemon juice, then use a palette knife to spread this all over the top surface of the stollen, whilst it is still warm. It’s best eaten as fresh as possible, cut into thick slices, with or without butter but the next day it’s very good lightly toasted.

Note: If you want to make it in advance it can be frozen on the day of baking as soon as it has cooled (without icing it) then defrosted, warmed and iced on the day you want to serve it. Also it can be cut and frozen in two halves and if you’re not keen on marzipan this recipe can be made without it.