Ruth's "Handgemacht" Dresden Stollen

I am not a big fan of old-fashioned, heavy, rum-infused fruitcake.  Is anybody, really?  We’ve all heard the jokes about the dense, sticky store-bought brown cake that is rarely truly welcome as a holiday offering.  Admittedly, Stollen is a type of fruitcake, but it is not dense or brown or sticky – it’s a much lighter yeast bread made with almond flour and rum-macerated candied fruit.  The loaf is tapered at both ends and dredged in confectioners’ sugar.  Recently I read somewhere that the appearance of the finished Stollen is supposed to represent the Baby Jesus in swaddling clothing.  Well, I don’t know about that, but I do know it is festive to look at and extremely satisfying to eat.

My mother Ruth uses a Stollen recipe from a December 1977 issue of Gourmet magazine.  She has been making Stollen every holiday season since then — for 35 years now.  I asked her why she started making Stollen.  This is her story:

“In the late 1960s, I traveled to Germany with my father. While in Stuttgart, I met up with my cousin Inge, who took me to a local Konditorei.  At the Konditorei, I indulged in a piece of Dresender Stollen, and never forgot how incredibly good it was. (Coincidentally, the confectionery café I visited with my cousin back in 1966 was owned by relatives of the Steck family!) Eleven years later, in 1977, when I was flipping through my newly arrived December Gourmet, I saw a recipe for Dresden Stollen, and the light went on. I knew I had to try it. And I’ve been baking a triple batch every holiday season since then.”

Making Stollen is a labor of love, and a bit time consuming, but worth the effort. Wrapped well, it keeps in the freezer for months.  Anytime you can manage to indulge in a slice of handgemacht Stollen, the light will go on.

Ruth's Dresden Stollen, ready to be devoured....

Recipe for Dresden Stollen
Adapted from Gourmet Magazine, December 1977
Makes 2 loaves
Active time 1 hour; start to finish 5 hours

Ingredients:

For fruit filling:
½ cup diced mixed candied fruit or fruit peel
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup dried currents
¼ cup glace or dried cherries, halved
¼ cup dark rum

For dough:
1 envelope active dry yeast
3/4 cup milk total: ¼ cup warm milk for proofing yeast, plus ½ cup milk for later use in dough
½ cup granulated sugar for use in dough, plus ½ teaspoon sugar for proofing yeast
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon almond extract
½ teaspoon lemon zest
1¾ to 2 cups all-purpose flour, using half at a time in two stages, plus more for flouring work surfaces and tossing with almonds and fruit mixture
1 cup almond flour, using half at a time in two stages
1 egg
¾ stick (6 tablespoons) butter, well-softened, plus more for brushing inside of loaves and buttering dough-rising bowls
½ cup slivered, blanched almonds, lightly toasted
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
confectioners’ sugar for dredging and dusting finished Stollen

Preparation:
In a bowl combine candied and dried fruit, raisins, currents, and cherries with rum, and let the mixture macerate overnight.

mixture of candied and dried fruit, about to be macerated with dark rum

In a small bowl proof 1 envelope active dry yeast in ¼ cup warm milk with ½ teaspoon sugar for 10 minutes. In a saucepan (or use a bowl in a microwave using low to medium heat) combine ½ cup milk, ¼ cup sugar, and ½ teaspoon salt, cook the mixture over low heat, stirring until it is warm, and transfer to a bowl.

Drain the fruit mixture in a sieve set over the milk mixture, and stir the juices into the milk mixture with ½ teaspoon each of almond extract and lemon zest, and add the yeast mixture. Add ½ cup each of all-purpose flour and almond flour, stir the mixture until it is well combined, and let it rise, covered, in a warm place for 1 hour.

Punch down the dough, add 1 egg, lightly beaten, and ½ cup more each of all-purpose flour and almond flour, and blend in ¾ stick (6 tablespoons) of butter, well softened. Turn the dough out on a floured surface and knead it, adding ¾ to 1 cup flour, or enough to keep it from being sticky, for 10 to 15 minutes, or until it is smooth and elastic.

Spread the fruits on paper towels, pat them dry, and in a large sieve toss them with the ½ cup slivered, blanched almonds, lightly toasted, and 2 tablespoons flour. Halve the dough, form each half into a rough rectangle, and press the fruit mixture into each rectangle, folding and turning the rectangles several times to incorporate the fruit. Form the dough into 2 balls, put each ball in a lightly buttered bowl, turning the balls to coat them with the butter, and let the balls rise, covered in a warm place for 3 hours, or until they triple in bulk.

three bowls with drained macerateed fruit and almonds already incorporated into dough; fruit and almonds ready to be incorporated (this is a triple batch making 6 loaves)

Press down the dough and roll each piece into a 9- by 5-inch rectangle on a well-floured surface. Brush the top of each rectangle well with melted butter, in a small dish mix ¼ cup sugar with ¼ teaspoon cinnamon, and sprinkle half the mixture on each rectangle.

two loaves just brushed with melted butter and sprinkled with cinnamon sugar; they will be folded over next, allowed to rise again, then baked

Fold a long side of each rectangle over the top, a little past the center and press up the folds but do not press the center edges down. Transfer the rolls, seam side up, to a buttered cookie sheet, leaving 4 inches between them, and let them rise, lightly covered, for an hour, or until they are almost double in bulk. Brush the tops well with melted butter and bake the Stollen in a pre-heated 375 degree oven for 30 minutes or until they are golden. Dredge the warm Stollen in confectioners sugar, transfer them to a rack and let them cool. The Stollen will keep, wrapped in plastic wrap and foil, for 2 to 3 weeks. They will keep even longer wrapped well and placed in the freezer.

the finished loaves, just dredged in confectioners' sugar