Original Dresdner Stollen - Christmas Specialty • MyBestGermanRecipes.com (2024)

FAQs

How do you eat Dresdner Stollen? ›

Traditionally stollen is sliced and served as is with breakfast, although some people prefer to warm individual slices in a toaster or a microwave.

The first and most famous variety of stollen is the Dresdner Christstollen. Some historians date its origin back to 1329 and over the centuries the stollen was refined to become what it is today.

As a traditional German fruitcake with a profound history, it's no wonder that there are as many variations of stollen as there are people who make it. This version includes a rich filling of almond paste (or marzipan), which adds to the decadence of the bread-like cake.

Germans baked stollen loaves at Christmas to honor princes and church dignitaries, and to sell at fairs and festivals for holiday celebrations.

Think of a Stollen as the love child of a fruit cake and a loaf of bread: it's typically baked from a yeasty dough (replete with dried fruit soaked in rum), then covered in icing sugar. Like you'd expect, you eat a Stollen in slices, often with your coffee or Christmas punch. Some people put butter and jam on it.

No, generally you do not need to refrigerate or freeze your stollen. If you will not be eating the bread for a few months, you may want to store it in the freezer. Otherwise, storing your stollen at room temperature in a bread box or drawer will allow it to last for months.

Stollen (German: [ˈʃtɔlən] or German: [ʃtɔln]) is a fruit bread of nuts, spices, and dried or candied fruit, coated with powdered sugar or icing sugar and often containing marzipan. It is a traditional German Christmas bread.

Although their different shapes and textures suggest otherwise, panettone (tall and light) and stollen (long and dense) are made from a basic butter- and sugar-enriched yeast dough. Panettone typically contains candied orange peel and raisins; traditional stollen had candied lemon peel and dried cherries as well.

The most famous Stollen is probably the one made in Dresden (Dresdner Christstollen) first mentioned in the 13th century and only (officially) made by around 120 bakeries in the east German city.

How long will stollen keep? ›

Stollen will last several months if kept covered in a cool, dry place. Stollen loaves are made in early November for the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. Stollen loaves will become more moist and flavorful with age.

Welcome to the Stollen Capital Dresden

With events that are much more than just enjoying the pastry, Dresden's stollen bakers and pastry makers successfully manage to create an adventure out of the craft and the tradition and thereby preserve it.

The city of Dresden in Saxony has played a big role in the history of Stollen. In 1730 a Dresden baker named Zacharias baked a giant stollen so large, it took eight horses to pull it out of the oven. But most stollen today are about the size of a normal loaf of bread, usually covered with white powdered sugar.

The layer of marzipan keeps the stollen moist. A butter and sugar glaze locks in additional moisture.

Stollen is traditionally eaten at room temperature, with slices served either right away or very soon after being cut, but it's not rare to have it slightly warmed as well. In recent years it has become more and more common to have the slices toasted or microwaved before serving the bread.

Stollen can be sliced and served with butter, honey, or jam. You may toast, or microwave individual slices before eating.

How do I serve my Stollen? Using a serrated knife Stollen is usually served by the slice throughout the holiday season. Typically, it is warmed in the microwave or toaster and is either served with a generous helping of jam, honey, or butter.

Stollen is traditionally eaten at room temperature, with slices served either right away or very soon after being cut, but it's not rare to have it slightly warmed as well. In recent years it has become more and more common to have the slices toasted or microwaved before serving the bread.

Cook it. Serve sliced with good coffee, spreading on butter if it seems too dry. It can't be toasted, but a very light microwaving, so it is just warmed, can be very rewarding because the spices are energised to share their fragrances.