Irish Christmas Stollen
Stollen are prized throughout the world as one of the most famous and beloved of all Christmas pastries (though they are wonderful at any time of the year!) This Irish version recipe is flaky, moist, and super flavorful!
To start, place the chopped candied citrus peels, raisins and chopped almonds in a bowl and pour the dark rum over them. Set aside and let the fruit and nut mixture soak in the rum while you make the dough.
NOTE: Candied citrus peel is easy to make yourself, contains no chemicals or additives, and taste way better than store-bought! Click this link for an easy recipe – Candied Citrus Peels.
Stir the instant yeast and some of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and let it sit in a warm place until frothy. Then add the flour, sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla extract and spices into the bowl of a stand mixer and pour the yeast / milk mixture over and mix with a dough hook.
After the stollen dough has risen once, punch it down, add in the fruit / nut mixture, and knead the dough until combined.
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cut it into two equal halves.
Press or roll each half of the raw stollen dough into a large rectangle about one inch thick.
Divide the almond paste / marzipan into two equal portions. The roll each into a log the length of the rolled out stollen rectangle. Press the almond paste / marzipan into the middle of the dough.
NOTE: Making your own almond paste / marzipan is super easy and can save you a lot of money. Click this link for a quick and easy recipe – Almond Paste (Marzipan).
Fold the left side of the dough over to cover the almond paste / marzipan. Then fold the right side of the dough over on top of the left side so that the edge of it sits just left of the middle of the stollen.
Pinch and tuck the top and bottom ends of the stollen to cover the almond paste / marzipan. Then use the bottom edge of your hand to press down along the length of stollen towards the right of the center to create a divot and characteristic hump.
Place the stollen on a lined baking sheet, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let them rest in a warm place for 45 to 60 minutes until puffy.
Bake the stollen in a pre-heated 350 *F oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.
Let the baked stollen rest for 5 minutes and then use a toothpick or skewer to poke holes all over the top and sides of the stollen. This will allow the melted butter that will be brushed on to seep into the stollen.
Generously brush the stollen with melted butter while the stollen are still warm. The butter will not only be absorbed into the stollen through the holes in the crust but will also prepare the surface so that the powder sugar coating will adhere.
Immediately after brushing the stollen with the melted butter, sprinkle a generous amount of powdered sugar on top of them.
Rub the powdered sugar into all the creases and down the sides of the stollen so that it is well coated. Let the stollen cool completely and then you can top with additional powdered sugar if desired.
The stollen can then be sliced and eaten right away if you want. I like to warm the slices in the toaster or microwave and serve with butter! You can also warp the stollen tightly, first with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, and allow them to “ripen” in a cool place for a week or two. Stollen can also be frozen for longer storage.
Christmas Irish Stollen
Stollen has been around for nearly 700 years and are prized throughout the world as one of the most famous and beloved of all Christmas pastries. This "wicked easy" Christmas Irish Stollen recipe is flaky, moist, and flavorful and one you will want to make and share with your family and friends for years!
Ingredients
For the Fruits & Nuts:
- 9 ounces Raisins
- 3 ounces Candied Orange Peel (store bought or homemade)
- 3 ounces Candied Lemon Peel (store bought or homemade)
- 3 ounces Blanched Sliced or Slivered Almonds
- ⅓ cup Dark Rum
For the Dough:
- 1 cup Milk, lukewarm
- 3 tsp Active Dry Yeast
- ½ cup Sugar
- 4 cups All-purpose Flour
- 1 each Egg
- 2 each Egg Yolks
- ¾ cup Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 each Lemon, Zested
- 1 tsp Salt
- ¾ tsp Ground Cardamon
- ¾ tsp Ground Nutmeg
- ½ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 8 ounces Almond Paste / Marzipan (store bought or homemade)
For the Glaze / Dusting:
- 1 stick Unsalted Butter, Melted
- As Needed Powdered Sugar for Dusting
Instructions
- Finely dice the candied orange and lemon peels and then the blanched almonds. Place them into a large bowl and add the raisins. Pour the dark rum over the fruit and nut mixture and stir to combine. Set aside and let the fruit mixture soak in the rum while preparing the dough.
- Stir the yeast and 2 tablespoons of the sugar into the lukewarm milk and let it sit in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes until it is very frothy.
- Place the remaining sugar, flour, egg, egg yolks, softened butter, vanilla extract, lemon zest, salt, cardamom, nutmeg and cinnamon in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Turn on low to combine the ingredients.
- Add the yeast / milk mixture and continue to mix and knead the mixture for 7 to 8 minutes. Remove the dough ball, lightly spray the mixing bowl with a little oil, and then return the dough ball to the oiled bowl. Cover the top loosely with plastic wrap and place it in a warm place or barely warm oven to rise until doubled in size, about 1 to 2 hours depending on the temperature of the environment.
- Punch down the dough and then add the soaked fruit / nut mixture to the dough. The fruit / nut mixture should have absorbed all of the rum by now but if there is any excess liquid, be sure to pour it off before adding the mixture to the dough. Using the dough hook, knead the fruit / nut mixture into the dough until combined. If the dough is too wet to handle, add a little bit of flour as needed until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and cur it into two equal halves. Press or roll each piece into an oval about 1" thick. Divide the almond paste / marzipan in half and roll out each piece into a log the length of the dough oval. Press the log of almond paste / marzipan gently into the middle of the dough.
- Fold the left side of the dough over to cover the almond paste / marzipan log. then fold the right side over on top of the left side so that the edge of it sits just left of the middle of the stollen. In other words, don't fold the right side all the way over to the left edge of the stollen.
- Pinch and tuck the top and bottom ends of the stollen to cover the almond paste / marzipan. Use the bottom edge of your hand to press down long the length of the stollen towards the right of the center to create a divot and characteristic hump.
- Place the stollen on a lined baking sheet and cover loosely with plastic wrap. Let them rest in a warm place or lightly warmed oven for 40 to 60 minutes until puffy. At this point you can pick off any raisins that are sticking out of the dough as they will just burn during baking.
- Towards the last 10 minutes of this last rise of the stollen, preheat the oven to 350*F. When ready, bake the stollen for 30 to 40 minutes or until golden. You can use an instant read thermometer to check that the inside is cooked which should be around 190*F.
- Remove the stollen from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then use a toothpick or skewer to poke holes all over the top and sides of the stollen which will allow the melted butter to seep in. Then generously brush the stollen with the melted butter while it is still warm. Immediately after sprinkle the tops of the stollen with a generous amount of powdered sugar, rubbing it in to the creases and down the sides. Let the stollen cool completely followed by an optional second dusting of powdered sugar once cooled.
- The stollen can then be sliced and eaten then or wrapped tightly first in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil and left to "ripen" in a cool place for a week or two. During this time, the liquid from the dried fruits will further penetrate the stollen adding even more flavor and moisture. Stollen can also be frozen for even longer storage. I like to serve the slices warm with a slather of butter on top!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
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nice very nice will have to try the recipe,
Great! And be sure to let us know how it turns out!