In the realm of holiday baking, few treats are as iconic and beloved as Mrs. Kostyra's Stollen Wreath Bread. This delectable yeast bread, studded with dried fruits, nuts, and spices, holds a special place in many families' traditions, evoking memories of warmth, togetherness, and the sweet aromas of the season. As you embark on your culinary journey to recreate this cherished recipe, let us guide you through the essential steps, ensuring that your stollen wreath bread turns out perfect, capturing the essence of Mrs. Kostyra's legendary creation.
Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!
STOLLEN WREATH BREAD WITH MRS. KOSTYRA
At a traditional German Christmas table, stollen is likely to appear as a beloved part of breakfast or as a conclusion to the holiday meal. A stollen begins as a sweet, rich yeast dough, which is then accented with dried fruits and nuts, and baked until golden brown. This version, brought to us by Martha's mother, is served every year at the Kostyra family Christmas.
Provided by Martha Stewart
Categories Food & Cooking Dessert & Treats Recipes Cake Recipes
Yield Makes 1 large wreath
Number Of Ingredients 20
Steps:
- In two separate bowls, soak currants in cognac and golden raisins in orange juice; set aside. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, mace, and nutmeg; set aside. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup milk and 10 tablespoons butter over medium-low heat until butter is melted. Let stand until lukewarm, about 5 minutes.
- Pour 1/4 cup warm water into a small bowl; sprinkle with yeast, and let stand 2 to 3 minutes. Stir to dissolve yeast completely. Add the dissolved yeast, warm milk mixture, and eggs to the flour mixture. Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface, and knead until fairly smooth. Transfer dough to a large bowl.
- Add currants and raisins in their liquid, orange zest, lemon zest, citron, apricots, and almonds, and then work them into the dough with your hands. Transfer dough to work surface, and knead for about 10 minutes. If the dough is sticky, knead in more flour, but be careful not to overwork.
- Butter a large bowl with 1 tablespoon melted butter. Place the dough in the bowl, turning to coat. Cover with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Punch dough down, roll into a rectangle about 16 by 24 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder. Carefully transfer dough to a Silpat- or parchment-lined baking sheet; join ends together, pinching with fingers if necessary to make it stick, forming a large circle.
- Using sharp kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch intervals, cutting 2/3 of the way through the dough. Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape with all the segments overlapping.
- Cover dough with a clean kitchen towel; set aside to rise for 30 minutes. Dough will rise only a little bit. Brush dough with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter. Bake until golden brown and crusty, about 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. Place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.
STOLLEN BABKA WREATH
Combine marzipan, mixed fruit and nuts in our gorgeous Christmas centrepiece. Launch our handy step-by-step guide for the foolproof way to create this stunning stollen babka wreath
Provided by Miriam Nice
Categories Afternoon tea, Dessert, Treat
Time 1h30m
Yield Serves 10
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- Mix the yeast, flour, mixed spice, sugar and 1 tsp salt in a big bowl. Whisk together the milk, melted butter and egg, then tip into the flour mixture and stir until it forms a sticky dough. Tip onto a work surface and knead for about 8 mins until the dough feels soft and stretchy. Clean the bowl, then butter it. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with buttered cling film and set aside for about 1-2 hrs, or until doubled in size, or chill for up to 24 hrs. In a small pan, simmer the cranberries, mixed dried fruit, zests and orange juice until the fruit looks plump. Leave to cool.
- When you're ready to shape the stollen, heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Tip the dough onto a surface lightly dusted with flour. Roll out to a 50 x 30cm rectangle. Grate the marzipan over the surface of the dough (this is easier to do if the marzipan is cold). Scatter the soaked fruit and half the nuts evenly over the top, then press down lightly with your hands so they stick into the dough a bit.
- With a long side facing you, roll up the dough as tightly as you're able to, like a Swiss roll (see step 1 of our step-by-step guide). Pinch the dough together to seal the open edge, then use a large knife to cut the sausage of dough in half along its length, leaving one end intact by about 5cm (see step 2). You should now have two long strips of dough to work with. Move the dough onto a large baking sheet, oiled and lined with parchment. Twist the two pieces together, turning the cut edges outwards to expose the marzipan and fruit filling (see step 3). Once twisted, connect the two ends to make a wreath shape about 26cm in diameter with a 12cm hole in the middle. Tuck one end under the other to hide the uncut piece of dough (see step 4). Cover loosely with oiled cling film and leave the bread to prove for 30-40 mins until risen by roughly a third.
- Uncover the bread and bake for 40-45 mins until the dough is golden all over. You may want to rotate the tray halfway through cooking to get even results. Leave to cool on the tray for 20 mins.
- Meanwhile, mix the icing sugar with enough lemon juice to make a thick but pourable icing. Drizzle over the wreath, then scatter with the rest of the nuts. Will keep in a tin, or well wrapped, for up to three days.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 537 calories, Fat 11 grams fat, SaturatedFat 4 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 94 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 48 grams sugar, Fiber 4 grams fiber, Protein 13 grams protein, Sodium 0.7 milligram of sodium
STOLLEN WREATH
Stollen -- a yeasty fruit bread --is a German-AmericanChristmastime specialty.After dinner, serve it with a glass of sweet Germandessert wine; or have itwith coffee for breakfast onChristmas morning.
Provided by Martha Stewart
Categories Food & Cooking Breakfast & Brunch Recipes Bread Recipes
Yield Makes 1 large wreath or 2 braids
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- Combine raisins, currants, citrus peel, angelica, and cherries in a bowl. Add the rum, tossing to coat fruits evenly. Soak at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- Pour water into a small bowl; sprinkle with yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let stand 2 to 3 minutes; stir to dissolve yeast completely. Set aside until mixture almost doubles in bulk, about 5 minutes. Meanwhile, drain fruit, reserving rum; carefully pat fruit dry with a paper towel. Return fruit to bowl; add almonds. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons flour. Toss; coat evenly. Set aside.
- In a heavy saucepan, combine 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, and salt. Heat until warm (110 to 115 degrees), stirring until sugar is dissolved. Transfer liquid to bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment; add reserved rum, almond extract, and lemon zest. Stir to combine. Stir in yeast mixture and eggs. Gradually add 5 cups flour, 1 cup at a time; beat until combined. Beat in softened butter until well incorporated. Turn dough out onto a surface floured with remaining 1/2 cup flour. Knead dough until all the flour is incorporated and dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Flour hands if dough gets sticky. Knead in one-third of the dried-fruit mixture until incorporated. Brush a large bowl with 1 teaspoon melted butter; drop in dough. Brush top of dough with 2 teaspoons melted butter; drape a kitchen towel over bowl. Set in a warm, draft-free place to rise until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment; set aside. Punch dough down; roll into a rectangle about 16 by 24 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle remaining fruit over pastry. Starting with a long side, roll up tightly, forming a long, thin cylinder. Carefully transfer dough to baking sheet; join ends together, pinching with fingers if necessary to make it stick, forming a large circle.
- Using sharp kitchen scissors, make cuts along outside of circle, in 2-inch intervals, cutting two-thirds of the way through the dough. Twist each segment outward, forming a wreath shape with all segments overlapping. Brush dough with remaining 2 tablespoons melted butter.
- Cover pastry with a clean kitchen towel; set aside to rise for 30 minutes. Dough will rise only a little bit. Bake until golden brown and crusty, about 45 minutes, rotating halfway through. Place baking sheet on a wire rack to cool before icing.
- Whisk confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons milk to combine. Drizzle over cooled stollen.
CHRISTMAS WREATH BREAD
The wreath design for this bread gives it such a festive look. I always make extras to give to friends and to sell at holiday bazaars. Everyone looks forward to receiving them. -Agnes Ward, Strattford, Ontario
Provided by Taste of Home
Time 50m
Yield 1 wreath (16 slices).
Number Of Ingredients 14
Steps:
- In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Add the butter, milk powder, sugar, egg, salt and 3 cups flour. Beat on medium speed for 3 minutes. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (dough will be sticky). , Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease the top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. , Punch dough down. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 18x12-in. rectangle. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with chopped almonds and cinnamon to within 1/2 in. of edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a long side; pinch seam to seal., Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet; pinch ends together to form a ring. With scissors, cut from outside edge to two-thirds of the way toward center of ring at 1-in. intervals. Separate strips slightly; twist to allow filling to show. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 45 minutes., Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Combine confectioners' sugar, water and extract; drizzle over warm bread.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 259 calories, Fat 8g fat (4g saturated fat), Cholesterol 29mg cholesterol, Sodium 170mg sodium, Carbohydrate 40g carbohydrate (12g sugars, Fiber 2g fiber), Protein 6g protein.
STOLLEN WREATH
BBC Good Food's show-stealing December 08 cover recipe - perfect if you fancy a change from the usual Christmas cake
Provided by Angela Nilsen
Categories Dessert
Time 2h50m
Yield Cuts into 20-22 slices
Number Of Ingredients 16
Steps:
- Mix the raisins, cranberries and mixed peel in a bowl, pour over the rum, then leave to soak while you make the dough. Tip the flour into a large bowl and stir in ½ tsp salt, the yeast, sugar, nutmeg and lemon zest. Rub the butter in until the mix is like fine crumbs. Warm the milk to hand-hot, then mix into the egg. Pour the milk into the flour mix, then stir with a round-bladed knife to make a soft dough, adding a drop more milk if needed to mop up any dry crumbs in the bottom of the bowl. Gather the dough into a ball, then knead for 3-4 mins on a lightly floured surface. Put the dough into a lightly oiled bowl, cover with cling film and leave until the dough has risen to double the size (about 45 mins-1 hr).
- Knead the dough 2 or 3 times, then roll out to a rectangle about 37cm x 17cm. Stir the chopped pistachios into the soaked fruits, then spread one-third of the fruit mix down the centre of the dough, leaving all the edges uncovered. Fold each side into the centre to overlap slightly. Press the edges with the rolling pin to seal, turn the dough, then repeat the rolling out and spreading of the fruit twice more. Roll out to a final rectangle that is 55cm x 16cm. Roll the marzipan into a sausage shape, so it's slightly shorter than the length of the dough. Place it down the centre. Roll the dough over the marzipan, then turn the dough over so the join is underneath. Lift onto a buttered baking sheet, then curl the dough round a buttered 12cm round cake tin (see tip, below), brushing the ends with a little beaten egg and pinching them well together to seal.
- Cover and leave to rise for 30-45 mins or until puffy and doubled in size. Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/ gas 5. When the dough has doubled, brush with beaten egg and bake for about 25 mins until golden. Cool on the baking sheet briefly, then transfer to a wire rack.
- Make up the icing. Stir 2-3 tsp water into the fondant icing sugar and, when the stollen has cooled, drizzle the icing over. Scatter over the extra cranberries and pistachios and decorate with holly.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 292 calories, Fat 9 grams fat, SaturatedFat 3 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 49 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 28 grams sugar, Protein 6 grams protein, Sodium 0.28 milligram of sodium
Tips:
- Use high-quality ingredients, especially the butter, flour, and yeast. This will make a big difference in the final product.
- Proof the yeast properly before adding it to the dough. This will ensure that the yeast is active and will help the dough to rise properly.
- Knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic. This will help to develop the gluten in the flour, which will make the bread strong and chewy.
- Let the dough rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. This will give the yeast time to work and produce carbon dioxide gas, which will cause the dough to rise.
- Bake the bread in a preheated oven. This will help to create a crusty exterior and a soft, fluffy interior.
- Let the bread cool completely before slicing and serving. This will help to prevent the bread from crumbling.
Conclusion:
Stollen wreath bread is a delicious and festive holiday bread that is perfect for sharing with family and friends. It is a bit of a labor of love, but it is well worth the effort. By following these tips, you can make a perfect stollen wreath bread that everyone will enjoy.
Are you curently on diet or you just want to control your food's nutritions, ingredients? We will help you find recipes by cooking method, nutrition, ingredients...
Check it out »
You'll also love