Dresdner Osterbrot— Stollen for Easter

In Germany and throughout much of Europe, stollen is baked both for Christmas and Easter. In its various forms, and with its special ingredients it may be known as Julekage in Denmark, panettone in Italy, and stollen in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at Christmas-time. But then in the spring and several weeks before Easter, bakeries begin selling Osterbrot.

Peter Reinhart says: “The main difference between the three is in their flavorings: julekage contains cardamom, panettone is more floral, and stollen has an almond flavoring. Also, each is baked in its own distinctive shape.” Traditional stollen is folded into a kind of wrap, where the dough is folded into thirds over its self around a marzipan center. It is supposed to represent the baby Jesus swaddled. The Danish Julekage is usually made in a long bread pan and the Italian Panettone is nearly always in a tall round. But, writes Reinhart,”Regardless of how you adjust the flavors or shapes, the whole grain version here makes this a healthier, heartier holiday treat.”

The Osterbrot version of Stollen is a cake-like, sweet bread filled with dried fruit. It is made by mixing water or milk with flour and zested citrus peel to give it a fresh springtime flavor. It may be baked as a boule, log, or even in a bundt ban, which is my plan for this holiday,

Modern-day stollen is most often made with baker’s yeast but traditionally it was an enriched sourdough recipe and it was made that way for centuries. In its earliest uses, it was baked as a sweetened “communion” bread, where its history can be traced back to the early Orthodox Christian church. However, stollen was made most famous when, in 1474 AD, the Pope allowed bakers in Dresden to begin adding butter to their dough.

Prior to this date both Advent and Lent were times of fasting, which meant the bread was made with oats, flour, water, and with a very expensive oil made from turnips, and was sadly hard and quite tasteless. Finally after many appeals, in 1490, the Pope sent the “Butter-Letter,” to the then Prince of Saxony granting the use of butter not only for his family and household, but others in the Furstentum who were willing to paying an annual tax to support the construction of the Freiberg Minster were permitted to add butter to the dough.

As much of Northern Europe became Protestant, the butter tax was eliminated and bakers began to enrich doughs with sugar, honey, dried fruit, nuts, and marzipan. However, Dresden Stollen, heavy, moist, and filled with fruit, remains the most famous of all its stollen cousins. Traditional Dresden Stollen is neither very sweet nor light and airy as bakers in other places make it.

Because of its simple ingredients and dried fruit, it keeps for weeks, improves in taste over time, and is a common holiday gift. But sadly over time, the use of sourdough with a long-ferment has given in to the use of baker’s and other fast-acting yeasts, which leaves the bread tasting less flavorful than traditional sourdough loaves do.

Based on the old sourdough recipe, ours is a long-fermented dough packed with dried fruit and covered with almond slices. The bread is usually sliced warm and spread with butter for breakfast on Easter morning. It is also served at tea time: Kaffee und Kuchen, which literally mean ″coffee and cake″ in German, but by me makes a great treat any time of day

Sourdough Osterbrot

(adapted from Peter Reinhart’s Whole Grain Breads, which uses a soaker for a long autolyse, a thick starter, known as a biga, and other common stollen ingredients. )

Serving Size:

8–12

Time:

2 Days

Difficulty:

Moderated

Ingredients

• 5 cups / 620 g White whole-wheat Bread Flour
• ½+2Tbls / 142 ml Milk, lukewarm
• ½ cup / 113 g Butter, softened
• 1¾ cup / 397 g thick starter/biga
• 2½ tsp / 14 g salt
• 1⅓ cups / 227 grams dried and/or candied fruits
• ¾ cup / 170 grams orange juice
• 1 lemon and/or orange, zested (about 1 Tlbs)
• 1½ tsp / 7 grams orange and/or lemon extract
• 1½ teaspoons (.25 ounces, 7 grams) almond extract
• 2 tsp /, 9 grams) vanilla extract
• ¼ cup / 56.5 grams) sugar or brown sugar
• 2 large / 94 grams) eggs, slightly beaten
• extra whole wheat flour for adjustments
• unsalted butter, melted, for topping (optional)
• confectioner’s sugar or granulated sugar for topping
• Almond slices for topping

Directions for Day 1

1. Mix the soaker ingredients:
   • 1¾ cups / 227 grams whole wheat flour
   • ½ teaspoon / 4 grams) salt
   • ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons / 142 grams) milk, soy milk, or rice milk
   • ½ cup /113 grams unsalted butter, melted
   together in a bowl for about 2 minutes, until all of the flour is hydrated and the ingredients form a soft ball of dough.
   Cover loosely and leave at room temperature for 12-24 hours. ( You may also place the soaker in the refrigerator; it will be good for up to 3 days. But remove it 2 hours before mixing the final dough to take the chill off.)
   
2. Mix the starter ingredients
   • 5 Tbls / 64 grams whole wheat mother starter
   • 1½ cups / 191 grams whole wheat flour
   • 1 lemon and/or orange, zested (about 1 Tbls)
   • ½ cup + 2 Tbls / 142 grams filtered or spring water, at room temperature (about 70°F/21°C) (74%)
   together in a bowl to form a ball of dough. Using wet hands, knead the dough in the bowl for about 2 minutes to be sure all of the ingredients are evenly distributed and the flour is fully hydrated. The dough should feel very tacky.
   Let the dough rest for about 5 minutes, then knead it again with wet hands for 1 minute. The dough will become smoother but still be tacky.
   Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover, and leave at room temperature for approximately 4-6 hours, until the dough is nearly double in size. (If the starter has not doubled or acidified properly, allow it to continue to develop at room temperature. It could take up to 8 hours or even longer.
   When the starter has fully developed, knead it for a few seconds to degas it. The starter is now ready for mixing into the final dough; however, if necessary to coordinate timing with the soaker, cover, and refrigerate overnight (or up to 3 days). About 2 hours before mixing the final dough, remove the starter from the refrigerator to take off the chill.
3. Stir together the fruit soaker ingredients
   • 1⅓ cups / 227 grams dried and/or candied fruits
   • ¾ cup / 170 grams orange juice
   • 1½ teaspoons / 7 grams orange and/or lemon extract
   • 2 teaspoons / 9 grams) vanilla extract
   in a bowl, cover, and leave it out overnight. It will be ready to use the following day.

Directions for Day 2

1. Strain the fruit soaker, reserving any liquid for adjusting the hydration of the dough.
2. Using a metal pastry scraper, chop the soaker and starter into 12 smaller pieces (sprinkle some of the extra flour over the pre-dough to keep the pieces from sticking back together).
3. Combine the soaker and starter pieces in a bowl with
   • 1⅓ cups / 170 grams) additional whole wheat flour
   • ⅝ teaspoon / 5 grams) salt
   • ¼ cup / 56.5 grams white or brown sugar
   • 2 large / 94 grams) eggs, slightly beaten
   and all of the other ingredients except the extra flour. Knead with wet hands for about 2 minutes, until all of the ingredients are evenly integrated and distributed into the dough. The dough should be soft and slightly sticky; if not, add more flour or water or reserved liquid as needed.
   (If using a stand mixer, put the pre-dough pieces and all of the other ingredients except the extra flour into the mixer with the paddle attachment. Mix on slow speed for 1 minute to bring the ingredients together into a ball. Switch to the dough hook if need be and mix on medium-low speed, occasionally scraping down the bowl, for 3 to 4 minutes, until the pre-doughs become cohesive and assimilated into each other. Add more flour or water or reserved liquid as needed until the dough is soft and slightly sticky).
4. Dust your work surface with flour or oil, then roll the dough out. Knead the dough by hand for 3–4 minutes more, incorporating only as much extra flour as needed, until the dough feels soft and tacky, but not sticky.
5. Form the dough into a ball and let it rest on the work surface for 5 minutes while you prepare a clean, lightly oiled bowl.
6. Resume kneading the dough for 1 minute to strengthen the gluten and make any final flour or water adjustments. If this dough seems stickier than others, it is because the fruit is seeping its liqueur; add more flour to compensate. The dough should feel soft, supple, and tacky.
7. Form the dough into a ball and place it in the prepared bowl, rolling to coat with oil. Cover loosely. Let it rise at room temperature for approximately 60 minutes, until it is about 1½ times its original size.
8. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured or oiled work surface, divide it as desired, and form the pieces, and place into loaf pans, a bundt pan, or shape as a boule to bake in a dutch oven.
9. Mist the top of the dough with pan spray (optional), cover loosely with plastic wrap, and let rise at room temperature for approximately 60–90 minutes until it has grown to 1½ times its original size. In a loaf pan, the dough should rise to about 1 inch above the rim. In panettone paper, it should rise to just above the top of the paper.
10. Preheat the oven to 400°F / 204°C.
11. When the dough is ready to bake, place it in the oven, lower the temperature to 335°F /168°C, and bake for 20 minutes.
12. Rotate the bread 180 degrees and continue baking for another 20 minutes, then rotate the bread again, continuing to bake until the loaf is a rich, reddish-brown on all sides, sounds hollow when thumped on the bottom, and registers at least 200°F (93°C) in the center. The taller the loaf, the longer it will take to bake.
13. Transfer the bread to a cooling rack and apply toppings, as appropriate, while still hot from the oven.
14. When it is nearly cool brush the entire surface, including the underside, with melted butter, then roll it in either confectioners’ sugar or granulated sugar. If using confectioners’ sugar, dust the stollen again after 15 minutes, using a sifter or a strainer filled with powdered sugar and tapping it over the loaves to achieve a snowlike dusting.
    OR
    Glaze the bread and roll it in sliced almonds.
15. Allow to cool for at least 2 hours before serving, but remember this gets better as it ages some.