Stollen (2024)

A Christmas specialty originally from Saxony in Germany, stollen is a long, shallow, slightly oval, yeasted cake packed with spices, dried fruit and nuts with a thick roll of marzipan through the middle. It was traditionally meant to represent the Christ Child wrapped in swaddling clothes. Once baked, authentic stollen is rolled in melted butter and when this has set, sprinkled with icing sugar.

Apart from the icing sugar, true stollen is not very sweet and is quite dry; lighter, sweeter versions are modern variations.

Discover our delicious stollen recipes, from traditional cakes to sharing buns and luxurious puddings.

Availability

Widely available in the months before Christmas.

Choose the best

Only experience will tell you which you prefer. If you find the one you have chosen is too dry for you, slice it thinly and spread it with butter – or see below.

Store it

Stollen has a very long life when packaged. Keep it wrapped well after slicing, perhaps even storing it in the refrigerator and letting it come to room temperature before serving.

Cook it

Serve sliced with good coffee, spreading on butter if it seems too dry. It can’t be toasted, but a very light microwaving, so it is just warmed, can be very rewarding because the spices are energised to share their fragrances.

Otherwise, crumble, sprinkle with dark rum or an orange liqueur and use it layered with fruit and cream in a post-Christmas sundae. Rather better is to slice it, spread it with butter and apricot jam and then to use these slices to make a rich, festive-style of bread and butter pudding. Best be sure everyone likes marzipan and, if not, dispose of this or dab it on top before baking, so it can be avoided.

Stollen (2024)

FAQs

How do Germans eat stollen? ›

Like you'd expect, you eat a Stollen in slices, often with your coffee or Christmas punch. Some people put butter and jam on it. As with just about every baked product in this part of the world, you find different varieties in Vienna.

Is Stollen the same as fruitcake? ›

In Germany, fruitcakes (known as Stollen) don't quite resemble their American counterparts. Fruitcake vs. Stollen: Flattened with a chewy crust, Stollen is often baked more like a traditional loaf of sourdough bread.

Is stollen bread or cake? ›

Stollen is a cake-like fruit bread made with yeast, water and flour, and usually with zest added to the dough. Orangeat (candied orange peel) and candied citrus peel (Zitronat), raisins and almonds, and various spices such as cardamom and cinnamon are added.

Is stollen eaten warm or cold? ›

Stollen is traditionally eaten at room temperature, with slices served either right away or very soon after being cut, but it's not rare to have it slightly warmed as well. In recent years it has become more and more common to have the slices toasted or microwaved before serving the bread.

Why is stollen bread so expensive? ›

Expensive ingredients like almonds, nuts, raisins, orange peel, essence of rose and rum were imported. Because the coronation occurred during the Christmas season, the bakers shaped the loaves to resemble a baby in swaddling clothes in respect for the Christ Child. Ask any baker: Stollen is a labor of love.

Is panettone the same as stollen? ›

Although their different shapes and textures suggest otherwise, panettone (tall and light) and stollen (long and dense) are made from a basic butter- and sugar-enriched yeast dough. Panettone typically contains candied orange peel and raisins; traditional stollen had candied lemon peel and dried cherries as well.

Should stollen be refrigerated? ›

No, generally you do not need to refrigerate or freeze your stollen. If you will not be eating the bread for a few months, you may want to store it in the freezer. Otherwise, storing your stollen at room temperature in a bread box or drawer will allow it to last for months.

Does Aldi sell stollen cake? ›

Specially Selected Sweet Glazed Stollen With Jamaican Rum 600g | ALDI.

Do you eat stollen with butter? ›

How do I serve my Stollen? Using a serrated knife Stollen is usually served by the slice throughout the holiday season. Typically, it is warmed in the microwave or toaster and is either served with a generous helping of jam, honey, or butter.

What does the word stollen mean in English? ›

plural stollen or stollens. : a sweet yeast bread of German origin containing fruit and nuts.

Why is marzipan in stollen? ›

The layer of marzipan keeps the stollen moist. A butter and sugar glaze locks in additional moisture.

Do Aldi sell stollen? ›

Holly Lane Marzipan Stollen 750g | ALDI.

Do Jews eat stollen? ›

The resulting product, called stollen in it's most generic form, was originally of Jewish origin, and was eaten throughout the Hanukkah season.

What do Germans drink with stollen? ›

8 great wine and other matches for Stollen
  • Coffee. ...
  • Schnapps. ...
  • Spätlese, auslese or beerenauslese riesling. ...
  • Dark rum. ...
  • Pineau de Charentes* ...
  • Cognac and other oak-aged brandies such as armagnac or Spanish brandy. ...
  • Marsala dolce. ...
  • Amaretto.
Dec 10, 2023

How do you eat German Stollen bread? ›

How do I serve my Stollen? Using a serrated knife Stollen is usually served by the slice throughout the holiday season. Typically, it is warmed in the microwave or toaster and is either served with a generous helping of jam, honey, or butter.

Should stollen be toasted? ›

Certainly. Many people prefer to warm individual slices of stollen in the toaster or microwave before eating.

When should you eat stollen? ›

Stollen is a German specialty eaten at Christmas that's related to panettone, fruitcake, King cake, babka, and dreikonigsbrot. All these cakes were developed in medieval times and were reserved for the holidays because they were expensive to make.

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