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

FAQs

What is the Christmas stollen supposed to symbolize? ›

Oblong in shape and sprinkled with icing sugar, the shape of the traditional German Christmas stollen symbolizes the Child Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes.

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

May 2022) 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.

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

Fruitcake vs. Stollen: Flattened with a chewy crust, Stollen is often baked more like a traditional loaf of sourdough bread. Stollen also forgoes the usual candied cherries and pineapple in exchange for citrus zest, candied citrus peels, raisins, and almonds.

This traditional German holiday bread was invented long before conventional refrigeration methods existed. As such it is designed to remain fresh and has a long shelf-life.

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.

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.

Stollen loaves are made in early November for the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays. Stollen loaves will become more moist and flavorful with age. How should Stollen be served? Stollen can be sliced and served with butter, honey, or jam.

Saxony's World Famous Delicacy. The Dresdner Christstollen is a piece of cultural history, a centuries-old baking tradition, a prevailing passion and, above all, a delicious treat. For centuries, Dresden's bakers and pastry makers have kept up this tradition, passing it on from generation to generation.

Why do Germans eat stollen? ›

Stollen's origin dates back to 15th-century Germany, a time when culinary traditions were deeply intertwined with religious practices. Originally made from simple ingredients due to church-imposed fasting, it has evolved, mirroring the changing tides of history.

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.

Stollen lasts for a while, and the flavors will intensify as they age. Try to eat your stollen within 2 weeks or so for the freshest flavor and texture. If you don't eat your stollen within a 2 weeks, it could dry out.

The resulting product, called stollen in it's most generic form, was originally of Jewish origin, and was eaten throughout the Hanukkah season.

Stollen History

Dresden Stollen is said to have originated in 1329 as a result of a contest 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.

Spelling is important — case in point, stolen vs. stollen bread. While the former refers to a loaf that someone has, er, omitted to pay for (thus passing the cost on to the rest of us shoppers in the form of a price increase), the latter is a tasty German Christmas treat.

Christmas stollen, known in Germany as Christollen, is a rich, dense, sweet bread filled with dried fruit, candied citrus peel, marzipan or almond paste, and nuts. It hails from the city of Dresden, Germany, where it was first produced in the late 1500s.

Christmas is a frequent season for these Stollen but they are being baked throughout the year and the recipe doesn't really change much during Christmas. Originally Answered: Why is it called stollen? The word Stollen, was a word for a post or boundary stone for a city. It also could be the entrance to a mine shaft.