Vegan Stollen

Written by McDonald, T.  |  Date 11th of December 2023 

This is something I have heard of, but never tried before.  Usually, we have traditional Christmas cake in my house, but last year I wanted to try something different and this was it.  Rest assured, I will be having it again this year too! At first, it seems like a lot of effort, but you will soon see that it is straight forward to make and definitely worth it.  However, it will need proofing and the dried fruit will need soaking, which will all take time, so plan ahead. 

Notes

• I used French Brandy Marzipan and so used brandy to flavour the raisins and cranberries.
• I used almond milk.
• A good tip is to dust the soaked fruit with a little flour before adding the dough.
• You have 3 options with the marzipan: 
• Roll it out 
• Chop it up
• Have a thick bar of it running through the centre
• I soaked the dried fruit in brandy, but you can make it without the alcohol is you wish or use rum instead.
• I used a silicon baking sheet to save on the greaseproof paper, see figure 4.

How to eat Stollen

• With butter
• With jam 
• With maple syrup
• Toasted
  
• On its own

Figure 1a, Slices of Stollen on its own.

Figure 1b, Slices of Stollen with vegan butter.

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Makes a 30 cm x 12 cm loaf.

Time, 46 minutes in the oven, but about 4–6 hours proofing.

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Ingredients

Dry ingredients

• 450 g of strong wholemeal or white bread flour
• 3 tbsp of caster sugar
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 7 g of instant yeast
• Zest of 1 an unwaxed lemon
• 1 tsp of mixed spice 
• 60 g vegan butter diced
• 100 g of flame raisins
• 100 g of dried cranberries
  
• 50 g of mixed peel 
• 50 g of glazed cherries
  
• 50 g of sliced almonds
• 120 g of marzipan
  

Wet ingredients

• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• Juice of 1/2 a lemon 
  
• 170 ml of warm water 
  
• 2 Flax egg (for each egg replacement) 
• 1 tbsp of ground flaxseed
• 3 tbsp of vegan milk
  
• 180 ml of brandy or dark rum (used to soak the dried fruit)
  

 

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Method

Step 1 – Prepare the raisins

1. Soak raisins and cranberries in the alcohol.
2. Leave to soak for at least 3 days.
   

Step 2 – Make the dough

1. Add the flour, yeast, sugar, lemon zest and mixed spice to a large mixing bowl and combine with a balloon whisk.
2. The water must have a temperature that is at around 38C/100F, but no more.  Too hot and the yeast will die.  Too cold and the yeast will not rise.
   
3. Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice to the water then add the water and flax egg to the flour and combine until soft, silky and elastic. The dough is likely to be sticky, so use a large wooden spoon, or dough whisk to combine the dough until the very end when you can start using your hands.  Work the dough in the bowl all the time until it is ready to go on a board.
4. Dust the board with flour and knead the dough until smooth (about 5 minutes). 
5. Transfer back to the bowl, scatter the diced vegan butter on top, cover with a tea towel and allow to rise (proof) for 2 hrs in a warm part of the kitchen. It should double in size. 

Step 3 – Add the raisins and mixed peel 

1. Gently knead the dough while mixing in the butter.
2. Add the fruit mixture and glazed cherries.
3. Add the almonds.
4. Knead until the fruit and almonds are distributed evenly.
5. Place back in the mixing bowl, cover and leave to rest in the fridge for 4 hrs at least.

Figure 2, resting dough.

Step 4 – Add the marzipan

1. Tip the dough out onto a floured surface and gently roll out into an oblong shape, about 18 cm x 30 cm.
   
2. Remember, you have 3 options at this point.  I have chosen to go with the bar that runs through the middle.  This requires making a groove in the middle of the dough as it is laid out.  Roll out the marzipan into a bar and lay in the groove you made, see figure 3.  Now, carefully pall one long edge over marzipan and do the same with the other edge.  
3. Fold the ends over so that all seems are on one side.
   
4. Carefully roll it up and place on a greased baking sheet with the seam side down and the ends folded in and also facing down.  Remove any fruit from the surface to prevent burning. 
   
5. Place in a warm place and leave to rise for about 45 minutes.
   

Figure 3, bar of marzipan laid in shallow groove.

Figure 4, Stollen rolled up and ready for final proofing.

Step 5 – Bake!

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C. 
2. Brush with a little vegan milk such as soy milk or almond milk.
   
3. Bake for 6 – 8 minutes in the middle of the oven before turning the oven down to 170 C.
4. Remove the stollen and loosely cover with foil before placing back in the oven. 
5. Bake for about 45-50 minutes, or until cooked right through and is a golden brown.
6. Place on a cooling rack as soon as possible. 
7. Allow to cool completely
   
8. Brush with melted vegan butter and dust generously with icing sugar.
9. Place in an airtight container and leave for up to a week before serving.   

Figure 5, after removing from the oven.

Figure 6, after removing from the oven.

Figure 7, after removing from the oven.

Results 

All in all, it turned out great.  However, at one end, some marzipan leaked out, see figure 8.  

Figure 8, The marzipan leaked out a little at this end.

Figure 9, Stollen heavily dusted with icing sugar.

Figure 10, Stollen heavily dusted with icing sugar.

Figure 11, Stollen heavily dusted with icing sugar.

Figure 12, after a few days in airtight container.

Figure 13, Slices of Stollen.

Figure 14, sliced stollen.

I hope that you liked this blog and if you do try this recipe, please let me know how you got on and what it turned out like. You can leave a comment in the comments below.