Christmas stollen with marzipan filling

Tip: tap a step to mark it as done.

1. Soak the fruit

   2 hr

   Pour the rum over the raisins, stir in the candied citrus peel, and let soak for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.

2. Activate the yeast

   15 min

   Crumble the yeast into the lukewarm milk with 1 tsp of sugar and let stand for 10–15 minutes until foamy.

3. Knead the dough

   1 hr 15 min

   Mix the flour with the sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Add the yeast mixture, egg, and softened butter, and knead for about 10 minutes until smooth. Work in the raisins, candied citrus peel, any unabsorbed rum, and the almonds. Cover the dough and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour, until increased in volume.

4. Add the marzipan

   15 min

   Roll the marzipan between your palms into a log about 25 cm long. Roll out the dough into an oval 30 cm long and about 2 cm thick. Gently press a rolling pin lengthwise down the center to make a shallow indentation. Place the marzipan in the indentation, fold one side of the dough over it so that it extends slightly past it, and press the edge to seal.

5. Let rise again

   30 min

   Transfer the stollen to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and let rise for another 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 170 °C (340 °F).

6. Bake

   50 min

   Bake the stollen for 45–50 minutes, until golden brown. If the top browns too quickly, cover it with aluminum foil. A toothpick inserted into the dough away from the marzipan should come out dry.

7. Coat with butter and sugar

   10 min

   Immediately brush the hot stollen with melted butter and dust generously with powdered sugar. Once cool, brush it with butter again and sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

8. Let rest

   Wrap the cooled stollen in parchment paper, then in aluminum foil, and let rest in a cool place for at least 3 days, preferably a week. The flavors will blend and the stollen will soften.

Tip: Before baking, push any raisins sticking out of the dough back inside. Otherwise, they will burn and become bitter.

This recipe was translated from the Slovak original: Vianočná štóla s marcipánovou plnkou