Stollen Buns
Our Stollen buns are a twist on the German Christmas classic. These buns are soft, fluffy & full of rum soaked fruit, spices & nutty marzipan.
Servings: 5 Buns
Equipment
- Stand Mixer
- Mixing Bowls
- Digital Food Probe
- Pastry Brush
- Sieve
- Dough Knife/Scraper
- Wire Cooling Rack
Ingredients
Soaked Fruit
- 45 g Sultanas
- 45 g Dried Cranberries
- 30 g Raisins
- 30 g Glace Cherries Cut Into Quarters
- 30 g Candied Peel
- 1 tbsp Dark Rum
Dough
- 250 g Strong White Bread Flour
- 30 g Caster Sugar
- 4 g Instant Yeast See Notes
- 3 g Fine Sea Salt
- 35 g Egg Yolks Roughly 2 Large Yolks
- 1 Lemon, Zested
- 1 Orange, Zested
- ¼ tsp Vanilla Paste
- ¼ tsp Ground Cinnamon
- ¼ tsp Ground Ginger
- 130 g Whole Milk
- 50 g Unsalted Butter Softened
Filling
- 100 g Marzipan White Or Golden
Egg Wash
- 1 Whole Egg
- 1 tsp Whole Milk
- A Small Pinch Of Table Salt
To Finish
- 100 g Unsalted Butter
- 1 tbsp Dark Rum
- 100 g Icing Sugar Sifted
Instructions
Soaking The Fruit
- Place the sultanas, cranberries, raisins, cherries, candied peel & rum into a bowl then mix together. Cover the bowl with clingfilm & leave the fruit to soak overnight (or for at least an hour).
Dough
- Place the flour, sugar, yeast, salt, yolks, zests, vanilla, cinnamon & ginger into the bowl of a stand mixer. Next, warm the milk up to 38°c/100°f (in a microwave or on the stove) & add into the flour.
- Using the dough hook, mix the dough on a medium speed until it has come away from the sides of the bowl & is looking smoother. This will take 3-4 minutes.
- With the mixer still running on medium, add in the butter a small amount at a time, incorporating each piece fully before adding more. Once all the butter has been incorporated, keep mixing until the dough passes the window pane test, which will take roughly 5-10 minutes.
- Next, add the soaked fruit to the mixing bowl & incorporate into the dough with your hands. Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl & leave to prove at room temperature until double in size. This will take between 1-1½ hours.
- When the dough has almost finished proving, cut the marzipan into 5 x 20g pieces. Roll each into a ball then flatten into 1 cm thick discs. At the same time, line a large baking tray with baking paper & set aside.
- Once doubled in size, knock the dough back with your hands then transfer to a lightly floured worksurface.
- Cut the dough into 5 equal portions, each weighing around 135g.
- Next, flatten a piece of dough into a 1½cm thick disc then place a piece of marzipan in the middle. Fold the sides of dough up & over the marzipan (so that it is completely covered) then flip the dough upside down & use your hands to shape into a ball. Place seam side down on the lined baking tray & repeat with the remaining dough.
- Once shaped, cover the tray with another baking tray (flipped upside down) or loosely with oiled clingfilm & leave to rise at room temperature for 1-1½ hours. Once proved the buns will be well risen but not quite doubled in size.
- Whilst the buns are proving, preheat an oven to 180°c/160°c fan (350°f/320°f).
- In a bowl, whisk together the egg, milk & salt for the egg wash then brush over the top of each bun.
- Bake the stollen in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, until a deep golden brown then leave to cool on the tray for 10 minutes (or until cool enough to handle but still warm).
To Finish
- In the meantime, melt the butter then transfer to a shallow bowl & stir in the rum. Place the sifted icing sugar into a separate bowl.
- Next, pick up a stollen bun, roll in the melted butter then the icing sugar, making sure that it's well coated in both. Transfer to a cooling rack & repeat with the remaining buns.
- Let the stollen cool completely before serving. If you like, you can give the buns another dusting of icing sugar as well.
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1. Cooking In An Aga - Bake the stollen buns in the baking oven, on the floor (on top of a grid shelf). Bake for 15 minutes.
2. Yeast - For this recipe, you can use either instant yeast or dried active yeast. If using dried active, you'll need to activate it first by whisking into the warm milk & leaving for 5 minutes, to go frothy before adding to the flour.
3. Fruit - For the best results, the fruit should be soaked overnight. If you're short on time, an hour will work though.
4. Spices - For extra flavour, you could add some grated nutmeg or ground allspice into the dough as well.
5. Storage - These buns are best eaten on the same day as they were cooked but will keep for a couple of days in an airtight container.
6. Rum - I used a dark, spiced rum for this recipe but light rum or brandy would work as well.
7. Flour - For this recipe, you'll need to use a strong white bread flour. Any bread flour will work. I use a Canadian bread flour from Shipton Mill in the UK.
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