Tips for Making Dresden Stollen

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To make a successful Dresden Stollen you should know a few important things:

1. The Stollen dough’s quite dense (thanks to amounts of butter and lack of liquid); it shouldn’t rest for too long – about 1 hour will be enough, so we will need 2 times more yeast than for usual yeast dough.
2. You could use a whole egg, only egg yolk or not use eggs at all. I recommend you use egg yolks or not use eggs at all as egg whites make dough thicker.
3. Traditional spiced for Dresden Stollen are believed to be cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, fresh orange or lemon zest are also widely used. However, each baker has their own mix of spices, and you are also free to improvise. In the recipe for Dresden Stollen I share my favorite combination of spices.
4. Raisins for Dresden Stollen should be rum-soaked. Depending on its kind, candied fruit may also need to be soaked in rum together with raisins. Is candied fruit is too dry and tough they should better be rum-soaked. Sometimes you can come across store-bought candied fruit for baking – those you don’t need to soak in rum.
5. To make dough elastic, you should first add warm milk to flour, stir, and then add diced butter of room temperature. Butter shouldn’t be melted for Stollen!
6. The general rule for yeast dough is that it should be prepared in a warm place, all the ingredients should be of room temperature and your hands should be also warm and dry when you knead dough.
7. Stollen dough should be well-kneaded. Knead for at least 10 min with your hands.
8. Bake Stollen by gradually reducing the oven temperature. Start with 220 degrees Celsius, then gradually reduce it to 190 degrees Celsius. If the top gets browns too soon, cover it with foil (you are more likely to do it).
9. Brush the piping hot Stollen with melted butter. As soon as the butter has been absorbed, brush once again. Proceed with the remaining melted butter. Then covered with foil and a kitchen towel and let chill completely. Turn the foil over occasionally so that the Stollen won’t get wet.
10. Sift the completely chilled stolen with powdered sugar. Cover with plastic wrap or transfer in an airtight container and let stand in a cool place for 10 days. Before serving, garnish the Stollen by sifting it with powdered sugar once more.
11. Thanks to abundance of butter and lack of water, Stollen can be kept for up to a month is an airtight container in a cool place without losing but enhancing its taste and flavor. Dresden Stollen is believed to be the most delicious on the 10^th day.  I checked – it is indeed!

Bon appetite and good luck in making Stollens!