I tried 9 supermarket stollen - here are the best (and worst) for Christmas 2024
Stollen is a popular Christmas sweet treat for many, which is why the main supermarkets have their own versions of this German delicacy.
Dating back to the 1400s, this enriched dough is studded with dried fruits and has a marzipan centre.
You can buy it as one large oval cake, which is supposed to represent baby Jesus in swaddling clothes or as small bitesize pieces.
Here are the best, and worst, stollen available from the main UK supermarkets this year.
Morrisons The Best Stollen Slices, £3.75
These are handily sized for having with a cup of tea in the afternoon.
They smell and taste of all the Christmas spices you want at this time of year and are quite dense. A little dry on top.
3/5
Marks and Spencer Stollen Bites, £3.75
Another lot of mini stollens that are ideal for when friends are round, or if you don’t want to buy one big cake.
These were heavy on the fruit, and not dry at all, but they marzipan was totally overpowering.
2/5
Exceptional by ASDA Stollen Slices, £3
These slices come in a pack of six, and are currently on offer for £3.
They’re dense but not too dry, with a good mix of fruit to marzipan ratio. One of the best we tried.
4/5
Exceptional by ASDA Black Forest Stollen Bites, £3
These mini stollen bites came in a funky box and looked very appetising. They’re one of a few that have shied away from the more traditional recipe.
On first taste I got an almost savoury note and hints of Chinese Five Spice. There was no taste of black forest flavours at all.
They were very moist and dense, and not to my taste.
2/5
Waitrose Christmas 6 Stollen Slices, £3.50
These slightly bigger than bitesized stollen slices have the traditional vine fruits, enriched dough and marzipan but are also finished with rum butter.
They’re not too dense, and very fruity but also very sweet.
3/5
Waitrose Christmas Stollen Loaf, £6.50 for 500g
One of the first stollen loaf cakes that we tried. It’s made in the traditional way with sweet dough, vine fruits, marzipan, rum syrup, and butter and finished with a dusting of icing sugar.
It had a lovely zesty flavour to it, meaning it wasn’t too heavy or too dry. It tasted almost like a denser panettone.
3.9/5
Waitrose No.1 Amaretto & Brown Butter Stollen, £10 for 535g
This is a really appealing looking version of a stollen, if you’re into nuts, particularly almonds.
Inside it has sultanas, cherries, hazelnuts and almonds and is made with an Amaretto syrup and brown butter. It has been decorated with roasted almonds and hazelnuts.
As you can imagine, it tastes very strongly of almonds, but it’s not overpowering. A really delicious, luxurious take on a traditional stollen.
4/5
Lidl Favorina Marzipan Stollen Bites, £1.49
These mini bites are a classic buy at Lidl during Christmas and look appealing as they’re all generously covered in icing sugar.
They’re very cake-like in texture, quite dense but not dry, but don’t taste of much apart from a hint of marzipan.
3/5
Tesco Finest Cherry & Almond Stollen, £9 (or £7.50 with Clubcard)
This stollen has Jamaican rum soaked raisins as well as marzipan and is decorated with glace cherries and flaked almonds giving it a Christmas cake look.
There’s a good hit of Christmas spices, it’s not too dense and the marzipan doesn’t overpower the fruit.
5/5