Apple-Poppy-Seed-Stollen

Stollen is a traditional German Christmas treat - basically a sweet bread, studded with vast quantities of raisins and candied orange and lemon peel. However, I'm not much of a fan of the last three ingredients, so I really love this recipe for a Stollen filled with apples. I can't recall where I first found this recipe, but I have made some adjustments over the years and now have the perfect recipe to suit my taste. And I'm not the only one who loves this Stollen; so far, everybody has loved it!

For 1 Stollen you will need...

... for the dough:

• 180ml (6 oz) milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 200g (7 oz) butter
• 2 packages of dry yeast
• 500g (17,6 oz) flour
• 100g (3,5oz) sugar
• 1 tbsp each vanilla and orange sugar
• a pinch of salt

... for the filling:

• 1 cooking apple
• 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp pear brandy or Calvados
• 200g (7 oz) marzipan
• 250g (8,8 oz) poppy seed filling*
• 50g (1,7oz) chopped almonds

... to finish:

• 100g (3,5 oz) butter
• 50g (1,7 oz) icing sugar

1. For the dough, gently heat the milk in a pan and the melt butter at a low temperature. Let cool slightly, then add the eggyolks and mix.

2. In a big bowl, combine flour, sugar, vanilla and orange sugar, salt and dry yeast. Add the warm milk mixture and give it a quick mix. Thoroughly knead the dough, cover and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hour.

3. Peel the apples, remove core and finely dice them. Squeeze out the lemon; together with the pear brandy, pour the juice over the apples and allow to steep for roughly 30 minutes.

4. Dust your work surface with some icing sugar, knead marzipan until smooth and roll out to about 45 x 35 cm.

5. Knead the dough a last time and, on a floured surface, roll out to about the same size as the marzipan. Top with marzipan, then with poppy seed filling. Sprinkle with apples (without the liquid) and almonds.

6. Starting from the shorter side, fold over to the middle. Proceed with the opposite side and roll over twice, starting with one fourth of the rectangle and then folding this over again. Your Stollen will now be somewhat higher on one side, which is typical of a Stollen. You can accentuate this shape by creating a ridge along the loaf with the sides of your hands. Let it rest for 30 minutes. 

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 170°C /340 F for about 50 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool slightly. To finish your Stollen, brush it with melted butter while the loaf is still warm and generously dust with icing sugar.


* You can use store-bought filling, but there is a lovely recipe by Tori Avey for homemade filling.