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Moist Rhineland Christmas Stollen with Marzipan, Ready to Eat Right Away

by Lisa

Trained pastry chef

Rhineland Christmas stollen with a marzipan center, coated in butter, vanilla sugar and powdered sugar

4.9 (15)out of 5, 15 ratings

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Prep
1 day
Bake
35 min
Total
1 day
Makes
1

Fresh from the oven, still warm, with a thick layer of butter and a generous cloud of vanilla sugar all around: that is exactly how I like my Rhineland Christmas stollen with marzipan best. What makes this recipe special is that it needs no aging time and still turns out really moist and full of flavor. So if you only start thinking about baking this weekend, you can enjoy the stollen right away over the holidays without letting it rest for weeks first.

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My trick from the bakery is the fruit filling of candied orange peel, candied citron peel and raisins, which I soak in rum the day before, plus a small piece of plain dough that later goes over the whole stollen as an outer layer. That keeps the marzipan center soft inside, the crumb moist and the surface nice and smooth for the thick butter and sugar coating. Here is my recipe for Rhineland Christmas stollen with marzipan:

Ingredients

Makes 1

Fruit filling

  • ⅔ cup100 graisins
  • 1 ¾ oz50 gcandied orange peelDiced candied orange peel. In the US use candied orange peel; in the UK, candied orange peel or cut mixed peel.
  • 1 ¾ oz50 gcandied citron peelCandied peel of the citron, a large lemon-like fruit, diced for fruit breads and Christmas baking. In the US use candied citron or candied lemon peel; in the UK, cut mixed peel or candied lemon peel.
  • ¼ cup60 mlrum

Sponge

  • 1 cup130 gall-purpose flourIn German recipes plain flour means soft wheat flour Type 405 unless stated otherwise. In the US use all-purpose flour; in the UK, plain flour.
  • ⅓ cup80 mlmilkwarm
  • 1 oz30 gfresh yeastfresh. German recipes use either a 42 g cube of fresh yeast or a 7 g packet of dry yeast; one cube equals about two packets. In the US use active dry or instant yeast; one 1/4 oz (7 g) envelope replaces half a cube of fresh yeast. In the UK, fast action dried yeast (7 g sachet per half cube), or fresh yeast from a supermarket bakery counter.

Dough

  • 9 oz250 gsponge (from above)
  • 2 cups250 gall-purpose flour
  • 1 stick plus 4 tbsp170 gunsalted buttersoftened. German butter is unsalted and has about 82 percent fat. In the US use unsalted butter; European-style unsalted butter is closest. In the UK, unsalted butter.
  • 3 tbsp40 ggranulated sugar
  • 2egg yolks
  • ¾ tsp4 gsalt
  • zest of 1 organic lemon
  • 2 tspstollen spiceA spice blend for German Christmas stollen with cardamom, mace, nutmeg, cinnamon and allspice. In the US use cinnamon with a little cardamom, nutmeg or mace, and allspice; in the UK, mixed spice with a pinch of cardamom and mace.

Also needed

  • 4 ½ oz125 galmond pasteRaw marzipan with a high almond and low sugar content, used for baking. In the US use almond paste (not marzipan, which is sweeter); in the UK, almond paste, or the marzipan with the highest almond content you can find.
  • ½ cup60 gslivered almondstoasted. Blanched almonds cut into thin sticks. In the US and in the UK, use slivered almonds.
  • 1 stick plus 3 tbsp150 gunsalted buttermelted
  • ½ cup100 ggranulated sugar
  • 4 tspvanilla sugar1 packet = 2 tsp (8 g), so 2 packets = 4 tsp (16 g). Sugar flavored with vanillin (artificial vanilla), sold in small packets of about 8 g. In the US use 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 2 tsp sugar for each 8 g packet; in the UK, vanilla sugar sachets, or 1 tsp vanilla extract plus 2 tsp sugar per sachet.

Method

  1. The day before, soak the raisins, candied orange peel and candied citron peel in the rum. Let them steep overnight.

  2. For the sponge, knead the flour, milk and yeast together and let it rise for at least 60 minutes.

  3. Add the remaining dough ingredients and knead everything into a dough.

  4. Take a portion about the size of a tennis ball from the plain dough, cover it and set it aside.

  5. Drain off the rum and knead the soaked fruit and the almonds into the dough. Gently and briefly! Then cover the dough and let it rise for at least 60 minutes.

  6. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and shape it into a round.

  7. Roll out the reserved plain dough into an oval with a little flour, so that it fits over the stollen as an outer layer.

  8. Shape the large piece of dough into a stollen and fill it with the almond paste. Lay the rolled-out outer layer on top and press it on. Put a stollen baking cover over it.

  9. Let it rise again for about 30 minutes.

  10. Bake in the preheated oven on convection (fan) at 375°F (190°C) or conventional (top and bottom heat) at 400°F (200°C) for up to 50 minutes.

  11. After baking, remove the baking cover and brush the stollen with the melted butter while it is still hot. Press the sugar onto it and let it cool.

  12. If you like, give it a generous snowfall of powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar; in the UK, icing sugar).

  13. Ready to enjoy right away.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between stollen and Christmas stollen?
Christmas stollen is the holiday version of stollen, traditionally made with dried fruit, almonds, stollen spice and a thick butter and sugar coating. Stollen in general can also be baked outside the Christmas season, for example as quark stollen or poppy seed stollen. My Rhineland Christmas stollen with marzipan clearly belongs to Advent, thanks to the stollen spice and the typical rum-soaked fruit filling.
Which ingredients go into a classic Rhineland Christmas stollen with marzipan?
The dough of my Rhineland Christmas stollen with marzipan contains flour, yeast, milk, butter, sugar, egg yolks, salt, stollen spice and lemon zest. Then there is the fruit filling of candied orange peel, candied citron peel and raisins soaked in rum, plus slivered almonds. I make the marzipan center from almond paste. Finally, I brush the stollen generously with butter and roll it in vanilla sugar and powdered sugar.
Does a Christmas stollen with marzipan need to age, or can I eat it right away?
My recipe is designed so that you can cut into the stollen right after baking. Thanks to the generous buttering, the rum-soaked fruit filling and the outer layer of extra dough, it is nice and moist right away. If you still want to let it sit for a few days, go ahead: in an airtight container the flavor gets even rounder. But with this version, aging is not a must.
What is the stollen baking cover for, and do I really need it?
I put the stollen baking cover on during the last rise and while baking so the stollen keeps its shape. Without the cover, the dough often spreads a little and you lose the typical stollen look. It is not strictly necessary; you can bake without it too. But I think the Rhineland Christmas stollen with marzipan simply looks prettier with the cover, and the crumb stays nice and even.
Why do I soak the candied orange peel, candied citron peel and raisins in rum overnight?
The fruit filling needs to soak properly so it doesn't taste dry in the stollen. When I soak the candied orange peel, candied citron peel and raisins in rum overnight, the raisins absorb the liquid and plump up, and the rum carries its flavor through the whole mixture. A few hours unfortunately aren't enough; you notice it later when you cut the stollen. That is why I always plan this step a day ahead.
How much butter and sugar go on the stollen after baking?
I am really generous here. I brush the hot stollen with soft butter until the whole surface is well soaked, and that can easily be 7 tbsp (100 g) or more. Right after that I roll it in vanilla sugar, really thickly in my case, because I love that sugar crust. Once it has cooled completely, it gets a nice layer of powdered sugar. This coating helps the stollen keep and gives it the classic flavor.