Holiday Stollen is here!
Very limited quantities. Preorder yours today.
OK, we are usually not very flashy bread bakers. Our work is nourishing for the body and soul, if not wild. But once a year we pull out the stops and make this outrageous, complicated, decadent, historical cake-like bread (or bread-like cake) for the holidays.
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And we do it painstakingly the old-fashioned way with all ORGANIC ingredients, down to the almonds and the orange peels from organically-grown oranges.
Shown here is our stollen in special holiday / gift wrapping. With its coating of hand-brushed clarified butter finished with powdered sugar, our stollen can be purchased in advance of the holidays and given as a gift up to two weeks later.
About Stollen:
Stollen is a traditional German Christmas fruit-bread made with rum-soaked candied orange peels, almonds and raisins, and spices, and coated with powdered sugar. There are several varieties of Stollen; ours is most similar to the Dresden Stollen. See the pale yellow thread of soft almond paste running the length of the loaf.
Stollen has centuries-long history. Some historians trace the origin of Stollen to 1329, when a contest was offered by the Bishop of Nauruburg. Bakers in the region produced a wonderful bread baked with the finest butter, sugar, raisins, citron and other specialty ingredients. It is said that the Bishop enjoyed the stollen so much that he ordered a quantity of grain saved for stollen only.
"[Stollen is] a rich fruit bread/cake from central Germany, especially the city of Dresden ... the name is derived from an Old High German word, stollo, meaning a support or post. The characteristic shape of Stollen - oblong, tapered at each end with a ridge down the centre - is said to represent the Christ Child in swaddling clothes, whence the name Christollen sometimes given to it. The Dresden Stollen, now known internationally as a Christmas specialty, is made from a rich, sweet yeast dough, mixed with milk, eggs, sugar, and butter, sometimes flavoured with lemon. Raisins, sultanas, currants, rum or brandy, candied peel, and almonds are worked into the dough. After baking, the Stollen is painted with melted butter and dusted with sugar. It may then be further decorated with candied fruits..." -- Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson [Oxford University Press:Oxford] 1999 (p. 755)