Panettone and stollen are breads made with candied fruits and raisins.

These breads are known as Christmas breads as they are traditionally baked during the Christmas season.

They are also made with a kind of bread dough known as enriched dough which makes them heavier than other breads made with regular bread dough, although they are not as dense as cakes.

In this post, we are going to discuss the differences between these two breads.

Difference between stollen and panettone

The Panettone is a traditional Italian bread that is tall and cylindrical with a top that is shaped like a dome while stollen is a German bread that is folded into an oval shape.

Both breads have dried fruits and candied zests of citrus fruits kneaded into the bread dough used for making them. In addition to these, stollen is also made with spices such as cloves and cinnamon.

Stollen is also sprinkled with powdered confectioners sugar as a topping while panettone may or may not have a topping.

What is panettone

Panettone is a bread of Italian origin, it is also popular worldwide.

It is a cylindrical shaped bread  that extends into a domed shape top.

The panettone is soft and fluffy and contains lots of candied zests of oranges, lemons, dried fruits such as raisins, and some are even made with chocolates.

It is made from an enriched dough. Enriched dough is a dough that contains butter, sugar, milk and eggs in addition to the yeast, flour, water and salt used to make regular bread dough

Enriched dough takes a longer duration to rise compared to the regular bread dough, and this lengthens the duration used to make panettone.

When panettone is out of the oven after baking, it is turned upside down to cool.

The panettone has a rich flavor and is buttery.

The dried fruits may also be mixed with liquor or fruit juice which give more flavor to the bread.

Panettones could also be topped with sugar toppings

Stollen

The stollen is a fruitbread that is native to Germany

It is traditionally baked during the Christmas season

Stollen is also made with dried fruits and candied peels. The dried fruits and the candied lemon and orange peels are often soaked in rum to enhance the flavor of the bread.

The rum helps to spread the flavor from the fruits which gives stollen a rich flavor.

The dried fruits and peels are kneaded into the dough which is also enriched dough

In addition to the dried fruits and candied peels, spices and nuts are also used to make stollen .

These spices include nutmeg, ginger, cloves, cardamom and cinnamon.

Stollen may also contain marzipan.

The bread dough is folded into a oval shape before it is baked in an oven.

Once it is out of the oven, the surface of the bread is coated with  powdered confectioners sugar.

Stollen is also left to ripen for a period of time, and during this period the flavor of the bread improves.

The dried fruits also help with the moisture of the bread as the bread mellows.

In conclusion

Panettone and stollen are breads that have fruits inside the breads.

Stollen is of German origin while panettone is a traditional Italian bread.

They are also made from enriched dough, a type of bread dough that is heavier than regular bread dough, has a longer proofing time, and could be harder to handle.

However, the enriched dough gives the bread a rich flavor and a fluffy texture.

The raisin, candied lemon and orange peels and nuts in these breads also enhance the flavor of these breads.