Nut-Free Stollen with Whiskey
This is my spin on the traditional German Christmas fruit cake. Typically, these are made with marzipan and almonds, but I’ve got a little brother with a nut allergy and wanted a version I could bring home. The resulting dish is something between bread and cake that almost has the consistency of an old-fashioned donut. The warm spices mixing with the dried fruit are a mix that truly evokes the season.
This recipe is a variant of King Arthur Flour’s recipe and ratios.
INGREDIENTS:
For the stollen:
420 g of dried fruits (see note)
75 g of rye whiskey (or orange juice, or any alcohol of your choice)
7 g of yeast
170 g of warm water
116 g of butter
420 g of AP flour
50 g of sugar
6 grams of salt
6 g of mixed spice (see note)
14 g of orange zest
For the “marzipan”:
100g semolina
150g confectioner’s sugar
20g of malted milk powder (optional, see note)
75g butter (softened – room temperature)
1 tbsp brandy (or liqueur of your choosing)
¼ tsp salt
NOTES:
About the fruit: You can use any medley of fruits that suits you. Pick fruits you like and there’s really almost no way to go wrong. Traditional stollen would probably use a combination of candied citrus peels (probably orange and lemon), and raisins. But for the stollen pictured above, I went with the dried fruits I usually have in the pantry: raisins, cranberries, and cherries.
Soaking the fruit is a non-negotiable step and I recommend you let them soak for at least four hours, if not overnight. The thing about dried fruits is that they love to suck up moisture. If you don’t give them a chance to suck up some moisture before they enter your dough, they’ll start feasting on all the moisture in your dough which will dry it out. Soak your fruit.
A note about malted milk powder: This can be a tricky ingredient to find in a supermarket (you’ll probably have to order online). Malted milk powder is what turns milkshakes into malts. It’s a complex ingredient that’s sweet, nutty, caramel, and a touch savory. There’s a strong case for why it should be an ingredient you always have on hand, especially if you like to bake since you can add it to elevate anything. You can leave it out if you require stollen forthwith (don’t we all?) and don’t already have malted milk powder. Leaving it out will affect the flavor of your marzipan but won’t compromise the texture.
A note on the spices: Use any combination of the warm spices we all associate with winter — cardamom, allspice, clove, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg. This is a great spot to get some use out of that little jar of pumpkin spice that you’ve always got on the shelf. The spices are going to provide much of the flavor of the dough, so if you want to mix things up, this is a relatively safe spot to do it. Some other spices you could try out: black pepper, cayenne pepper, star anise, fennel seed, fenugreek seeds, and rosemary.
The Dough:
Soak your fruits. Combine your dried fruits and your liquid of choice – cover and let soak at room temperature for at least four hours and up to 12.
Make your dough by adding in all of the dough ingredients into the bowl of a stand mixer. The order you add them need not be scientific but, generally, add your yeast and water first, followed by the flour and then everything else.
To speed up the process, cube up your room temperature butter before adding — this will help it incorporate into the dough
With the dough hook attachment on, knead the mixture until it is soft and smooth. When you touch it, it should spring back slowly.
The dough has enough fat that it shouldn’t stick so there’s no need to transfer it to a new bowl to let it rise. Just cover the bowl it’s already in and let it rise at room temperature for 60 to 90 minutes. The dough will not double in size but should get puffy and form some bubbles.
WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE A STAND MIXER?
Making the dough will be much easier in a stand mixer but it’s by no means the only way to make this dough. Start by using a wooden spoon in a bowl with plenty of space to combine all the dough ingredients. Once the ingredients are beginning to stick to each other and form a loose ball, turn out onto a greased work surface and start kneading by hand. It will take longer to get the texture you want by hand but you know your down when the dough is smooth and cohesive.
The Marzipan
Add all the ingredients to a stand mixer with the paddle attachment (or you can use a hand whisk) and beat together until smooth and cohesive. It should hold together on its own and not stick to the sides of the bowl.
You can store the marzipan in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to four days. Make sure to take it out at least a half hour before use so it loosens.
This amount makes more marzipan than you may need
Assembly:
Roll the marzipan into about 7-inch logs (or about an inch shorter than you plan on making your stollen
Turn out the dough onto a lightly greased work surface and divide it into three pieces (or two for bigger stollen).
Do not flour your work surface or you will dry out your stollen and make it hard to reseal it. Either rub the bench with oil or just give it a good spray of non-stick.
Flatten each piece with your hands and then add a third of the fruits to the dough and start kneading it in. If there’s any excess liquid from your fruits, feel free to give them a squeeze before adding them to avoid dying your dough red.
Knead the fruits into the dough by folding the dough in on itself and pushing it away from you with the heel of your hand. Keep repeating this until the fruit is distributed throughout the fruit. Keep working it until you’ve incorporated the fruit, this is a strong dough and can take the extra working
Form the dough into a flat oval, pressing it down with your hands so it’s about an inch thick. For three stollen, each should be about 8 inches long and 6 inches wide.
Put your marzipan log into the center of your oval. Fold the dough length-wise over the marzipan, leaving the bottom edge of the dough exposed. Then we’re going to roll the dough onto that bottom edge, essentially rolling the dough around the marzipan core. Seal in the edges by pushing the dough together with your fingers
Place the dough, folded side down onto a greased cookie sheet, cover, and let rise another 60 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the bread reads at least 190 degrees.
Immediately after removing from the oven, brush the stollen with melted butter and let sit for 5 minutes before dusting with powdered sugar.
Let cool completely to room temperature before either storing or serving.
Serving Suggestions
Stollen keeps for about two weeks at room temperature wrapped tightly in plastic wrap or beeswax wrap. In the freezer, it’ll probably stay good well into the summer, if not until next Christmas. Because it stores so well, it makes an excellent gift or an offering at a Christmas party.
As for serving, stollen can be eaten any time of day but, for me, it makes a great snack with coffee or tea in the mid-afternoon. There’s no need for additional butter or jam but don’t let that stop you.