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!