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stollen buns
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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.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Proving Time3 hours
Course: Baking, Snack
Cuisine: German
Servings: 5 Buns
Author: Ben Racey

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.

Notes

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.