Dresdner Stollen is a naturally fermented (or yeasted) and enriched bread dough, scattered with dried fruits inside and sometimes has poppy seeds added. Often a log of marzipan fills the length of the loaf. But most interesting is the shelf life of this holiday treat.

Minimum storage life… Dresdner Christstollen® – Raisin Stollen: at least 16 weeks; Almond Stollen: at least 6 weeks; Marzipanstollen (Almond Paste Stollen): at least 6 weeks; and Poppy Seed Stollen: at least 2 week

—Storage and shelf life of Dresdner Stollen
Dresdner Stollen or Christstollen
Christstollen, … is known in Germany as a Gebildbrot (an ‘object bread’ or ‘shaped bread’), that is, bread baked in a symbolic form.  So what does the Christstollen symbolize? The answer is the newborn baby Jesus, tightly wrapped in white swaddling clothes, as, it was imagined, he appeared when Mary laid her precious bundle in a manger under the star of Bethlehem—Stollen’s Symbolism

Traditionally it is made with water and flour and leavened with a sourdough start, but from there each family’s version is different and these days most use fast-acting yeast. Some add citrus zest, others mix in candied citrus peel, and glacé cherries or pineapple. However, most German bakers stick to dried fruits (eg. dates, sultanas, raisins), nuts, and marzipan.

Stollen, however it is made, is a German staple during the Christmas season. The first loaves are baked usually beginning with the First Advent, four weeks before Christmas, which points to its long shelf life. Stollen also needs two weeks or more to fully develop its full flavor.

However, this popular bread finds its way into bakeries all over Europe again at Eastertime shaped as a boulé. Known as Easter Cakes (Osterbrot). Either way, the recipe below, which is adapted from Nourishing Joy using only sourdough for the leavening works just fine for Christmas or Easter celebrations.

Dresdener Stollen (Christstollen) or Osterbrot (Easter Cake) compared; both use the same recipe but are shaped and finished differently

The bread is s a richer, sweeter bread made with butter, eggs, milk, spices, and dried fruit and nuts. But since we don’t have alcohol around the house, I substituted boiled cider and almond extract for the rum (or you can mix molasses with apple juice). The nice thing about this loaf is that it keeps for weeks, making it the perfect holiday baking gift to start baking now.

Sourdough Stollen Recipe

Serving Size:
1 Large Loaf
Time:
2-3 days total
Difficulty:
Moderately Difficult

Pre-ferment Ingredients

Pre-ferment Directions

  1. Mix sourdough starter, water, and a cup of flour together.
  2. Cover lightly in a warm place overnight, but at least 8–12 hours.
  3. It should be very light and bubbly when ready.

Fruit and Nut Soaker Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 cups (450g) dried fruit; any mix of dates, figs, currants, raisins, sultanas, cranberries, etc., to equal 2.5 cups
  • 1 1/4 cup (185g) blanched almonds
  • 1 cup (240ml) apple juice; just enough to cover the fruit
  • 1 tsp (5ml) almond extract or rum flavoring

Fruit and Nut Soaker Directions (preparing this soaker  8–12 hours before you make the dough ensures the fruit will be hydrated enough to not draw moisture from the dough)

  1. Mix the dried fruit and almonds and cover with the juice.
  2. Add almond extract and enough water or apple juice to cover the soaker, however, this recipe calls for rum flavoring if you have it.
  3. Cover with cling wrap and leave overnight. 

Long-ferment Ingredients

Long-ferment Directions (8–12 hours)

  1. Prepare the sourdough by mixing the ingredients listed together except the salt and other spices
  2. Cover and set aside for 30 min.
  3. After 30 minutes, mix salt into the dough, but no other spices
  4. Allow the dough to rest for 30 min then stretch and fold every 30 min for a total of three more times.
  5. Let rise until double in bulk (8–12 hours).

Final Dough Ingredients

  • Zest of 2 oranges and 1 lemon
  • 1/2 tsp (1g) cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp (1g) nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp (0.25g) ground cloves
  • 1/8 tsp (0.25g) ground black pepper
  • 1/3 heaping cup (80g) white or caster sugar
  • 2 1/2 Tbsp (20g) cinnamon
Folding Dresdner Stollen
Fold Stollen as if wrapping a child in the dough; if marzipan log is used, fold dough around this.

Final Dough and Baking Directions

  1. Roll out to a 1/2 inch (1cm) thickness in an 18×12 inch (46x30cm) rectangle
  2. Sprinkle with spices, cinnamon sugar, and citrus zest
  3. Fold the two longest sides of the rectangle over the middle in thirds as if you were wrapping a baby in a blanket (if a roll of marzipan is being used, fold the dough around it). Then allow this to rest for a final rise for about 45–60 minutes.
  4. Place the loaf on a parchment-lined baking sheet or stone and put it into a preheated 375°F (190°C )oven to bake for 45 minutes.
  5. While the bread is hot from the oven, brush it with melted butter and dust it heavily with powdered sugar. 
  6. Return to the oven for three minutes to help set the coating, which extends the shelf life of this delicious holiday treat.

Stollen is a great food gift that keeps for weeks when made with real sourdough and heavily coated with a snowy cover of powdered sugar.

Tell us how yours turned out in the comment section below. Here is my successful take on Dresdner Stollen:

Dresdner Stollen
PS now that my stollen is a week old, I finally cut into it, and yum. For breakfast this morning I soaked two slices in egg and milk and enjoyed a holiday breakfast that cannot be beaten!