Christstollen
Also Known As: Stollen
The Christstollen, or just "Stollen," is a formed cake filled with dried fruits and nuts and covered in powdered sugar. It is available only during Advent and Christmas time. Its shape is supposed to resemble the Christ Child wrapped in a blanket.
Region
Throughout Germany
Main Ingredients
The dough of the Stollen is heavy and thick. Its main ingredients are butter or margarine, flour, candied lemon and orange peels, and dried fruits, such as raisins. Additional ingredients can be used.
History
The history of the Stollen begins in 1329 in the city of Naumburg in the region of Thuringia (Thüringen). It was created as a Christmas offering for the Bishop. The form, which has remained the same to today, was to resemble the Christ Child wrapped in a blanket.
Back then, the Stollen was as a light bread for the Catholic Advent fasting time. Because the Catholic Church prohibited the use of butter during fasting times, the stollen could only be made from oats,flour, water, and turnip oil. It must have tasted bad because the Bishop, in 1430, went to the Pope to request the ban on butter to be lifted. His request was rejected. They had to wait until 1491, when Pope Innozenz VIII lifted the butter ban for Stollen.
Several years later, the baker Heinrich Drasdo in the city of Torgau (in the region of Saxony) decided to modify the pre-Christmas fasting stollen to a Christmas Stollen by adding several tasty ingredients, such as fruits. His Stollen was called the "Drasdoer Stollen" and was known in all of Saxony.
The Stollen has evolved over the years, but the Stollen that we know today has really come about in the last century. Today, high quality ingredients, natural flavorings, and exotic spices are used. There is no one single recipe for the Stollen. Each baker has his/her own family tradition for baking a delicious Stollen.
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