• Desserts
  • Butter
  • Fresh Milk

Rita's Dresdner Stollen Cake

  • Desserts
  • Butter
  • Fresh Milk
Rita's Dresdner Stollen Cake
4
3h 0 min
Rita's Dresdner Stollen Cake

This Dresdner Stollen is a Christmas cake that come’s from Rita’s grandmother Oma Irmgard in Germany. For Rita, growing up in communist East Germany meant treats were scarce, but a lot of preparation went into making the dense, buttery Christmas cake once a year. This is a scaled down version for just 1 small cake.

 

This recipe was part of Anchor’s partnership with The AM Show and Newshub where we discovered what gave Kiwis all around New Zealand the feeling of home.

For the Dusting of the top after baking:
Before you start make sure:
Method
  1. If using dry yeast, dissolve it in some of the warm milk with 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Allow to rise “proof" in a warm place until bubbly.
  2. Sift the flour into a large (!) mixing bowl; Make a well in the center of the flour.
  3. Crumble the fresh yeast in a small bowl and mash together with a couple of tablespoons of the sugar until the yeast is liquid.
  4. Heat the milk until just warm to the touch.
  5. Pour into the well in the flour, along with the yeast/sugar mixture.
  6. Draw in some (but not all) of the flour with a wooden spoon or with your fingers, mixing well, to make a thick batter in the centre of your bowl.
  7. Dust some of the “outside” flour over the top, cover the bowl with a damp towel, and allow this "sponge" to rise in a warm place until bubbling and doubled in bulk -- about 30 minutes.
  8. Meanwhile melt the butter (do not brown!) and zest your lemon.
  9. When the “sponge” in the middle has risen sufficiently, beat the batter briefly (by hand or with a wooden spoon) to deflate the mixture then add all other ingredients and gently kneed the dough until it comes clean off your hands (or tools) and the side of the bowl (some elbow grease is needed here if you do this by hand). If needed you may add some extra flour to help with this process.
  10. When sufficiently kneaded, place the dough in a well-buttered bowl, lightly buttering the surface of the dough, and cover with a damp towel. Allow to rise in a warm/draft-free place until double in bulk -- approximately 1 1/2 hours.
  11. Punch the dough down with your fist and knead very thorough again by hand on a surface that has been dusted with flour. Shape into an Oval Loaf and slightly cut the top lengthwise (not to deep!). Place on a Flat Oven Tray lined with baking paper or greased with butter.
  12. Preheat your Oven to 175 - 200 °C.
  13. Bake for about 1 hour on the middle rack (fan-forced) or slightly longer if conventional oven is used. Check if your Stollen is done by inserting a wooden skewer into the middle, if it comes out clean your cake is done – it should look light brown all around.
  14. Let it cool down a little after baking.
  15. Now heat the butter until liquid and brush your stollen (use a pastry brush) all around with it, sift over the icing sugar whilst the butter is still wet and liquid, if desired, repeat this process.
  16. Your Stollen should rest at least 1 week in a cool, dark place before cutting so the flavours can work their way through the cake.