With a smile on my lips and a heart packed with creativity, I created an Oriental Christmas stollen. Instead of the usual ingredients, I use dates, figs, apricots and delicious pistachios, which we have in large quantities in Persia. My Oriental Christmas Stollen reflects the flavors of Oriental cuisine while capturing the spirit of the festive season. The fruits and nuts inside the Oriental Christmas stollen shine like jewels, giving the stollen a characteristic taste. The exquisite oriental spices delight all the senses and take you back to 1001 nights.

ORIENTAL CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

The stollen symbolizes the richness of life, the fruit represents the sweetness of fellowship, and the nuts the challenges that we overcome together. The oriental Christmas stollen will now become a tradition at our home. Bake it, and the delicious scent of spices and sweet fruits will fill your kitchen, gathering everyone around you to celebrate the magic in unity. Enjoy the stollen in merry gathering, share stories, laugh, and feel the warmth of the festive season.

HOMEMADE STOLLEN SPICE

You can make your stollen spice for an aromatic, fragrant oriental Christmas stollen. The lemon zest in the homemade stollen spice brings joy and happiness. Cardamom was once prized by ancient Kings, as a sign of power and prosperity. People believed the scent would calm the spirits of the Gods and bring good fortune to their homes.

Cinnamon is not only a spice, but also a symbol of warmth and hospitality. Cloves were believed a protective power that kept out evil spirits. The aroma of mace (nutmeg flower) is similar to nutmeg but much finer and more floral. They taste spicy, warm, and aromatic. The aromas of my oriental spices, are not just meant to find their way into the stollen, but also into your heart.

GERMAN CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

The Christmas Stollen or Christstollen is a traditional Christmas pastry from Germany. The pastry represents the Christ child wrapped in swaddling clothes. The most famous one is the ‘Striezel’ from Dresden. The Dresden Stollen Festival, first held in 1994, is an annual event where a giant stollen is paraded through the city and sold for charity. Over the centuries, the Christmas stollen has gained culinary and historical value and is deeply attached to the festive celebrations around Christmas.

Traditionally, the Christstollen is eaten from Christmas Eve until Epiphany. This tradition is not seen as so strict nowadays, so you can enjoy Christstollen throughout the Christmas season. The stollen should rest for about 2-4 weeks before consumption to allow its flavors to develop. This process makes the pastry tender and enhances its flavor. If you wish to enjoy it on the 1st Advent, you should start baking at the end of October or, at the latest, in mid-November.

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN VARIATIONS

Stollen has become a festive symbol of Christmas baking and is enjoyed worldwide. Depending on the region, it is known as Striezel, Strutzel, Stollen, or Christstollen. In addition to the traditional Dresden Stollen, there are regional and international variations with a wide range of ingredients and shapes. We have several typical German Stollen recipes. The most famous one is the Dresden Stollen, but we also have others such as Quarkstollen (with quark) and Nut Stollen with almonds, hazelnuts, or walnuts, which provide texture and a rich taste.

We also have Marzipan Stollen with a delicious sweet and almondy taste. You can also find Fruit Stollen with even more dried fruits such as raisins, sultanas, chopped apricots, or cranberries. A Chocolate Stollen with chocolate chips and cocoa in the dough is also an inspiring variation. Apple-Cinnamon Stollen with diced apples and cinnamon in the dough provides a more autumnal taste, just to name a few. Experiment with these variations to create your own unique Stollen. You can also experiment with different fillings, spices, and glazes to adjust the taste to your liking.

CHRISTMAS STOLLEN MOLD

Since the Stollen symbolizes the Christ child wrapped in diapers, shape it first into a rectangular form. Fold the short sides slightly inward, then fold the long side to cover 2/3 of the dough, and finally fold the remaining third to meet the opposite side. Alternatively, you can use a Stollen baking mold; in this case, roll the dough and press it in the mold, placing it on the baking sheet with the open side downward.

X-MASBOOM ADVENT CALENDAR

The X-MASBOOM Advent calendar is a festive blog event by Jana from Nom Noms Food. Until Christmas Eve, you can look forward to the 24 doors we open daily. Yesterday, lovely Nadine from Möhreneck brought a delicious recipe for gingerbread cookies, and tomorrow, it’s the turn of dear Bine from was eigenes with a Christmas surprise. The most recipes are in German. I wish you a peaceful pre-Christmas season, and please be reminded that “a cookie a day keeps the Christmas stress away”!

01. Dezember | Jankes Seelenschmaus | Pinker Winter Couscous 

02. Dezember | freiknuspern | Schnelle Nussstangen (vegan)

03. Dezember | Kuechenchaotin | Weihnachtsstollen mit Salzkaramell

04. Dezember | Zimtkeks und Apfeltarte | Weckmänner aus Hefeteig

05. Dezember | Meine Torteria | Nougatknöpfle

06. Dezember | Möhreneck | Lebkuchen-Plätzchen (vegan)

07. Dezember | Labsalliebe | here

08. Dezember | was eigenes

09. Dezember | Emma´s Lieblingsstücke 

10. Dezember | Nom Noms food 

11. Dezember | Food’n’Photo

12. Dezember | Die Jungs kochen und backen 

13. Dezember | Feiertäglich

14. Dezember | Pottgewächs

15. Dezember | 1x umrühren bitte aka Kochtopf

16. Dezember | Bake to the roots 

17. Dezember | USA kulinarisch

18. Dezember | savorylens

19. Dezember | Lebkuchennest

20. Dezember | Madame Dessert

21. Dezember | Wienerbrød

22. Dezember | Knusperstübchen

23. Dezember | pottlecker

24. Dezember | fräulein glücklich

INGREDIENTS ORIENTAL CHRISTMAS STOLLEN

INGREDIENTS INFUSED DRIED FRUIT

100 g soft dates*

100 g soft figs*

200 g soft apricots*

3-4 tbsp orange liqueur

INGREDIENTS INFUSED PISTACHIOS

60 g pistachio kernels*

3 tbsp rose water*

INGREDIENTS STARTER DOUGH

180 ml milk, lukewarm

500 g flour

1 tbsp flour

1 cube of fresh yeast* (42 g)

1 tsp sugar

INGREDIENTS STOLLEN SPICE

1/2 lemon, the zest of it*

1 whole vanilla pod*

1 whole Ceylon cinnamon stick*

2 whole star anise*

4 cardamom pods*

1 whole mace

4 whole cloves*

REMAINING INGREDIENTS

70 g sugar

1 pinch of salt

200 g softend butter

INGREDIENTS TOPPING AND PISTACHIO POWDERED SUGAR

100 g melted butter

10 g pistachios*

125 g powdered sugar

PREPARATION DRIED FRUITS

Coarsely chop dried fruits and mix with orange liqueur. Leave to infuse in a jar with a lid for at least 1 hour, or much better overnight. Shake from time to time.

PREPARATION PISTACHIOS

Let pistachios soak in rose water for a few hours, preferably overnight.

PREPARATION STARTER DOUGH

Heat the milk to lukewarm. Place 500 g of flour in a bowl and make a hole in the middle. Crumble the yeast into the hole and pour in the milk. Start kneading with flour and one teaspoon of sugar. Cover the dough and let it rise for about 30 minutes at a warm spot.

PREPARATION STOLLEN SPICE

Grate the peel of half a lemon and let it dry, or use directly dried lemon peels. Cut a whole vanilla pod into pieces. Coarsely chop a whole cinnamon stick. Roughly chop two star anise. Open four whole capsule cardamom and remove the seeds. Grind all the spices finely, in a food processor, including nutmeg flower and cloves.

PREPARATION STOLLEN

Add 70 g sugar, salt, spices, and 200 g butter in pieces to the starter dough. Knead everything into a smooth dough. Cover and let it rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes.

Drain the dried fruits and toss them in 1 tablespoon of flour. Knead them together with the pistachios into the dough. Shape the dough into a stollen and place it on a greased baking sheet or in the stollen mold, then cover and let it rise for another 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200°C. First, bake the dough at 200°C for 10 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 175°C and continue baking for another 30 -35 minutes.

PREPARATION PISTACHIO POWDERED SUGAR

Melt the butter.

Divide powdered sugar into two parts. Finely grind pistachios in a food processor and mix them with one half of the powdered sugar. Brush the warm stollen with half of the melted butter and sprinkle with only powdered sugar. Repeat the process. Finally, sprinkle with the pistachio-sugar mixture.

Let it rest for at least two weeks.

BEFARMAYID!

Susan

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Have you cooked this or maybe another delicious recipe of mine? Feel free to leave me a comment below. If you tag your picture on Instagram with @labsalliebe  and use the hashtag #labsalliebe, I won’t miss a post and will be happy to leave you a comment as well. Can’t wait to see your creations.

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