The stollen from Dinkel’s Bakery in Lakeview graced holiday tables for nearly a century. Each year, it sat amid our Christmas cookies, and we sent loaves to loved ones near and far. My family has a strong German heritage but hasn’t held on to many German food traditions. That’s why our annual Dinkel’s stollen meant a lot to us. My mother even clings to part of a loaf in her freezer. Whether it remains edible is another question.
Stollen is a sturdy, fruit-filled, spiced German bread traditionally sold around Christmastime. Bakers slather the loaf in melted butter and douse it in granulated and powdered sugar. It’s a relatively hefty bread, but don’t let that put you off — it’s scrumptious. A thin slice of this rich bread makes a perfect teatime treat — or try a thicker slice for a hearty dessert.
When Dinkel’s closed in 2022, I was distraught, so I set out to re-create their stollen. Since I don’t know the bakery’s exact recipe, I married the flavors I remember with the techniques used to make classic Dresdner stollen. Stollen from the German city of Dresden is world famous, just like Dinkel’s claimed its stollen was.
The fruit and nut mix in Dinkel’s stollen stood out from the German version. Dinkel’s used a traditional mix of booze-soaked almonds and golden raisins, plus candied pineapple and cashews, which are not found in most Dresdner stollen. This combination improves the classic, with the toasty cashews and bright pineapple adding some much-needed flavor. Sorry, Dresden, but raisins won’t thrill anyone. Traditional stollen includes candied orange and lemon peel, but Dinkel’s did not. I split the difference and added some lemon and orange zest to brighten up the dough. Some people only know stollen with a log of marzipan running through the middle of it. If my memory serves me right, Dinkel’s never tarnished theirs with marzipan, so I prefer it without.
Immediately after baking the stollen, you practically soak it with melted butter and cover it with granulated sugar. After it cools, you have two options: either coat it with powdered sugar or a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. I prefer the less traditional cinnamon-sugar version, but the powdered-sugar version gives it a festive, snowy quality.
Suppose you don’t want to tackle this recipe? Don’t fret, some great Chicago-area bakeries sell stollen at Christmastime, such as longstanding classic bakeries like Bennison’s and Lutz to relative newcomers like Floriole and Lost Larson. (But none of them taste quite like Dinkel’s.)
Stollen, in the style of Dinkel’s Bakery
After making stollen at home, I see why many folks leave it to their local bakery: it’s not for beginner bakers. But for those of us who like to enjoy showstopper bakes, it’s well worth the effort.
Fresh yeast gives you the best rise in this butter-heavy, rich dough filled with fruit. Call your local grocery store and ask if they sell fresh yeast. I’ve found it at many grocery stores across Chicago.
Refrain from being tempted to add cinnamon to the dough. Cinnamon will inhibit the yeast and give you an overly dense bread.
Finally, please weigh your ingredients — it’s essential for a complex bread recipe like this one.
Yield: Makes one 2 1/3-pound (1 kilogram) loaf, about 16 servings.
Ingredients:
Fruit and nut mix
100 grams (3/4 cup) toasted, unsalted cashews
125 grams (3/4 cup) candied pineapple
100 grams (3/4 cup) slivered almonds
150 grams (1 cup) golden raisins
50 grams (1/4 cup) dark rum or brandy
Yeast dough
100 grams (1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons) whole milk, lukewarm
20 grams fresh yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
150 grams (1 1/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
Butter dough
50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
Zest of 1 medium lemon
Zest of 1 medium navel orange
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
150 grams (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or the seeds from 1 vanilla bean
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
150 grams (1 1/4 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon milk
Sugar coating
50 grams (about 1/4 cup) melted butter
Option 1:
50 grams (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
50 grams (1/2 cup) powdered sugar
Option 2:
100 grams (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Instructions:
To make the fruit and nut mix:
Roughly chop the cashews and dice the candied pineapple so it’s about the size of large raisins. Add all of the fruit, nuts, and rum or brandy to a bowl and stir to combine. Cover the bowl and let it sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours, up to three days. Stir a few times to ensure the mixture absorbs the alcohol evenly.
To make the yeast dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, crumble in the fresh yeast. Then add the milk and sugar and whisk to dissolve. Add the flour and salt. Mix with a dough hook on low speed for about 8 minutes until the dough looks smooth. Place the dough in another bowl and cover. Set it in a warm place for about 90 minutes, until the dough has risen to at least double its original size.
To make the butter dough:
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the sugar, lemon zest and orange zest. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until the sugar looks moist and becomes fragrant. Add the cardamom, nutmeg, salt, butter, vanilla and almond extract to the bowl. Fit the mixer with a paddle attachment and mix for about 2 minutes at low speed to thoroughly combine the ingredients. Add the flour and milk, then return the mixer to low speed for about 1 minute until everything is well-mixed.
While the mixer is on low speed, take the risen yeast dough and add it to the butter dough in tablespoon-sized chunks. Beat it with the paddle for about 3 minutes on low speed until the dough cleans the sides of the bowls and starts to gather around the paddle. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed for about 15 minutes until you have a soft, elastic dough. Cover and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Add the soaked fruit and nuts to the dough and mix with the dough hook on low speed until the fruit and nuts are evenly distributed throughout the dough. You might have to get in there with your hands to knead in the fruit. It will seem like too much fruit, but it’s not. Be careful not to over-mix or mix too vigorously because the soft fruit can mush up if you mix it too roughly or for too long. Cover the bowl and let the dough rest for 30 minutes.
Shape the stollen:
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Pat the dough into an oval about 12 inches long and 10 inches wide, with the shorter side facing you. Fold the left side into the center, then fold the right side into the center to meet it. Roll the dough into a log, starting at the end closest to you. Then, roll the log to lengthen it to about 12 inches long with slightly tapering ends on the left and right sides. Pat the dough into a flat oval about 1 inch thick, with the long side facing you this time. With your rolling pin, make a deep impression about 1/3 of the way down from the top of the oval. Take the bottom of the oval, the part facing you, and fold the dough up so the end fits into the impression you just made. Gently press the dough so that it sticks to itself.
Transfer the dough to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Cover it lightly with plastic wrap and rest it in a warm spot for 90 minutes to two hours. It will not rise much, but it should look slightly puffed up.
While the dough rests, preheat the oven to 425°F, with a rack in the middle. Bake the stollen at 425°F for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350°F and bake for 35-40 minutes, until the stollen is deeply browned and reads 190°F on an instant-read thermometer. Transfer the loaf to a cooling rack and let it cool for 15 minutes. Keep the used parchment on the pan, and set the baking pan aside.
To finish with a sugar coating:
After the loaf cools for 15 minutes, pick off any burnt nuts or pieces of fruit on the outside of the stollen; these will taste bitter. Set the stollen and the cooling rack on the parchment-lined pan. Melt 50 grams of butter and brush it all over the warm stollen. Do this carefully, as it will still be fragile.
Then you have two choices:
Option 1, classic: Sprinkle the warm, buttered stollen all over with about 50 grams (¼ cup) of granulated sugar. Let the dough set until it cools completely, at least 4 hours. After it cools, use a sifter or sieve to dust the entire stollen generously with powdered sugar.
Option 2, cinnamon sugar: Whisk together 100 grams (1/2 cup) of sugar with 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon. Sprinkle about half of the mixture over the warm buttered stollen. After the stollen cools, sprinkle with the remaining cinnamon sugar.
Wrap the stollen in parchment paper and put it into a plastic bag. It is best after sitting for 24 hours and stays good up to two weeks after baking. If the powdered sugar gets damp, you can always sprinkle on some more before serving. You can freeze the stollen for up to six months. Thaw and dust with powdered sugar or cinnamon sugar before serving.
How to slice and store your stollen:
Cut, don’t saw. Traditionally, you slice stollen with a large non-serrated knife, using a steady downward cut instead of a sawing motion. Cut the stollen down the middle, then take a slice out of the middle. Push the exposed ends together and re-wrap to store. This prevents the cut edges from drying out.
Martin Sorge is a freelance writer.
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