My husband asked for a Christstollen or butter stollen. Unfortunately, I am always a bit skeptical about yeast; the part with the long 'rising' time doesn't work so well for me. But I found a nice recipe here; I had some candied orange peel, candied lemon peel, and raisins left over from baking, so I dared to try this pastry.
It is very time-consuming because the dough has to rest and 'rise' constantly. In terms of ingredients, I didn't find it that complicated; I had almost everything at home. I didn't have spices like allspice and cardamom, but I had a 'baked apple' spice blend that contained them, and I must say, it tastes great too.
If you want to try my recipe too, here are the details:
Christstollen – Bake butter stollen yourself – Recipe
How do you store a stollen?
The recipe said that you have to store the stollen in a cool place for at least 14 days or even 3 weeks to let it mature. Aha, and how? After some research on the internet, I found that it is best to wrap the stollen in aluminum foil and then pack it in a freezer bag or a tin box. This way, the stollen does not dry out. The long storage is explained by the fact that the spices and dried fruits need to 'mature' and can only then unfold their flavor.
Please store the stollen in a cool place, at approx. 15°C (59°F), and in the dark.
Caution:Long-term storage does not apply to poppy-seed and quark stollen; these should be eaten fresh.
My next question was also answered right below:
Why doesn't stollen get moldy?
If the stollen is packed airtight, it cannot get moldy or dry out.
Why do you cut stollen in the middle?
That's simple: firstly, because the stollen tastes best in the middle, and secondly, you can push the two ends back together, and the stollen stays fresh longer.
If you have any candied orange peel, raisins, or candied lemon peel left over, the 'Hausfreunde' cookies are a great option; you can find the recipe here:
Read also: Recipe for Hausfreunde – Christmas cookies
Photo by Sabine, meinhaushalt.at
