Christmas Stollen is a dense loaf made with yeast, flour, butter - lots of butter, eggs, dried fruit and nuts and sometimes Marzipan. It's heavy, not super sweet and a yummy snack any time you happen to have it around...but it's hard to find outside the Christmas Season.
Lots of different names for this Christmas loaf - Stollen, Christstollen, Weihnachtsstollen,Stollen Bread, Stollen Cake. But it's all pretty much the same - slightly sweet, buttery loaf generously dusted with icing sugar.
My new favorite way to enjoy Stollen is to slice it fairly thinly and then toast it under the broiler. I especially like Stollen with Marzipan and toasting this kind of Stollen softens the almond paste so it's creamy and warm. The toasting also brings out the nutty flavor and punches up the dried fruits.
There is a simple trick to cutting Stollen so it doesn't crumble...use a sharp knife and push straight down - don't saw through the loaf. It is rich enough that thin slices are most enjoyable! I like to have extra Icing Sugar (powdered sugar) on hand to sift over the loaf as when I take it out of the package the powedered sugar has sometimes flattened a bit and, frankly, you can never have to much icing sugar on Stollen!
Gingerbread World offers Stollen baked in Germany by three top bakeries:
Niederegger (my favorite because the loaves have generous amounts of Marzipan inside). The Mini Loaf (shown here) and the 1000 gram Stollen presented in a lovely cardboard gift box.
Lebkuchen Schmidt. The Schmidt bakery makes their Stollen without Marzipan - and not everyone loves Marzipan so this is good. Schmidt Stollen comes in 3 sizes - the Mini, the 500 gram Medium and the Large 1000 gram. All of the Schmidt loaves come in their own cardboard gift box.
Henry Lambertz Dresdner Stollen is a little different and even has its own special nicknames. The name "Dresdner Christstollen" is trademarked and the loaf is celebrated each year in its eponymouscity on the Saturday before Second Advent.
In order to be a real Dresdner Christstollen the pastry has to be made by hand following the traditional recipes. It also has to satisfy the requirements set by the Schutzverband Dresdner Stollen e.V., a Stollen Association created to protect the special pastry to ensure its quality and excellence. You can identify an original Dresdner Christstollen by its golden stollen seal.
All of our Stollen arrives in Canada from Germany at the end of October and we start shipping out orders in early November to arrive in time for the Advent Season. But don't wait till then to place your order...Pre-Order your Stollen and Lebkuchen in early Fall to ensure you reserve what you want. We often sell out by late November.
Cheers!
Tamara
Owner @ Gingerbread World
