German Stollen without Fruits (German Festive Bread)

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My husband gave me the Best of Baking recipe book (published by Hamlyn as a translation from a German book) for my birthday in 1980. I did not use any of the yeast recipes for 40 years because we couldn’t get proper working yeast in Chennai. Now that I have traced a source for instant yeast, I have become quite adventurous, and for this Christmas I baked Christmas Stollen. The book had 2 versions, with and without fruit. The recipe for the version with fruit can be found here.

German Stollen without Fruit

This bread has both the characteristics that define the stollen: the curved shape that resembles an aircraft wing, and the lavish sprinkling of icing sugar on the bread.

Most stollen recipes recommend the use of almond flour along with maida. Almond flour is almost totally unheard of in Chennai, and, therefore, I have not included that in the recipe.

Nutritive Value

All those who feel guilty about eating the traditional Christmas fruit cake with dollops of butter, sugar, and dried fruits and nuts will enjoy tucking into this German Stollen which is relatively light on butter and sugar, and has no fruits and nuts. Nevertheless, this is quite a rich recipe. It may be called bread, but go easy on the slices as it is definitely not like living on bread and water 😀

Ingredients

  • 2 C sifted Maida (Refined Wheat Flour)
  • ¾ T Instant Dry Yeast
  • 75ml lukewarm Milk
  • 3 T Castor Sugar
  • 1 Egg
  • ½ tsp Salt
  • 100g Unsalted Butter
  • ½ tsp Almond Essence
  • Rind of 1 Lime, grated
  • 1 T Rum

Topping

  • Melted Unsalted Butter
  • Sifted Icing Sugar

Method

Making the Stollen

  1. Place flour, yeast, salt, sugar, butter, and almond essence in a large bowl, and mix to form dough.
  2. Add the egg and blend into the dough.
  3. Add the milk little by little, and mix till all the milk is used up.
  4. Add the lemon rind and rum. Mix well.
  5. Knead the dough till smooth.
  6. Cover the bowl, and allow the dough to rest for an hour. The dough would have doubled its size.
  7. Place the dough on a board, and knead it for a minute. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.
  8. Sprinkle some flour on a board, and roll out the dough gently into a 2cm thick rectangle. The dough should be slightly thinner in the middle than at the edges.
  9. Fold the dough lengthwise, making it 6-8 inches long. This gives a typical stollen shape.
  10. Line a baking tray with butter paper/parchment paper. Place the dough on the paper. Let it rest for another 15 minutes.
  11. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180° C/350° F.
  12. Bake the stollen for 50 minutes or till lightly golden.
  13. Remove from the oven and cool.

Adding the Topping

  1. Brush the melted butter on the stollen on all sides including the bottom.
  2. Dredge generously with sifted icing sugar. The stollen should look white.

Notes

  1. I prefer to use instant dry yeast because it never fails, unlike active dry yeast which has let me down more often than the weather forecast :D. Instant dry yeast is not available all the time in Chennai stores. I have bought it in bulk on Amazon.
  2. I bought the rum from the Tasmac store in Forum Vijaya Mall in Vadapalani as all IMFL shops are now shut in Chennai.
  3. The stollen could be wrapped in a butter or parchment paper and placed in a plastic container. Leave it in the refrigerator till Christmas.
  4. More than the preparation of the bread, I found sprinkling the icing sugar to be most difficult because of the way it flies. The book recommended that butter be spread on the surface as soon as the bread is removed from the oven, and icing sugar sprinkled on it immediately; this should make process of sprinkling easier.

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