No other nation on earth celebrates Christmas quite like the Germans and it is the Germans that we need to thank for the Christmas tree and for Stollen. The cake was originally made in Dresden, shaped in the image of baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes – the first official reference to the cake was made in 1474 at which time it was rather tasteless because only Lenten ingredients could be used during the Advent period when the cake was baked. In 1647 the Prince Elector Ernst and his brother, Duke Albrecht persuaded the pope to allow the use of richer ingredients, like butter, on condition that they pay

one twentieth of a Gold Gulden for the maintenance of the Freiburg Cathedral. The real Dresdner Stollen has a seal (image below) depicting the city’s famous king, August the Strong and the sealed cakes may only officially be baked by the 150 Dresdner bakers that have special permission to do so.

The Striezelmarkt is stollen’s traditional market but it can be purchased all over Germany today, of course. The yeast-raised dough is thick with Zitronat (a candied peel), dried fruit, spices like cardamom & cinnamon as well as almonds and marzipan.  The cake itself is low in sugar but it has a thick layer of icing sugar sifted over the top. Traditionally the cake weighs about 2,5 kgs.  Since 1994 there’s been an annual Stollenfest in Dresden – inspired by August the Strong who loved this kind of thing so much that he started the tradition whereby a huge 1,7 tonne Stollen was baked at Christmas so that everyone in his kingdom could have a slice. Today the festival takes place on the Saturday before the second Advent Sunday and a 3 -4 tonne cake is pulled by carriage through the streets of Dresden to the Christmas market, where it is ceremoniously sliced and sold cheaply, the proceeds going to charity.

WEINACHTSTOLLEN

Ingredients

• 1kg plain flour
• 200 g sugar
• 110g fresh yeast
• ½ liter milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 drops of almond extract
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 400g butter, melted, cooled
• 210g finely chopped almonds
• 400g raisins
• 220g currants
• 250g  chopped mixed orange & lemon peel 
(Zitronat)
• 450g  best quality marzipan
• Additional butter, melted
• Icing sugar to sprinkle over the top

Method

Pre heat oven to 190 C

• Melt the butter over cool heat and put aside to cool;
• Warm the milk over cool heat;
• Crumble the yeast and place in a bowl with 1 teaspoon of sugar, add the milk, mix well and allow to start frothing.
• Sift the flour into a large bowl with the spices, the salt and the vanilla & almond extract, mix well together add and add both melted and cooled butter with the  foaming yeast and knead very well.
• Once the dough is smooth and shiny add the chopped almonds, the dried fruit, the zitronat (candied fruit) and incorporate into the dough – this takes a while and is not easy.
• Be patient and knead well – this is important.
• Once everything has been mixed well, place in bowl, cover with cling film or tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for at least 2 – 3 hours until it has doubled.
• Divide into two, knead it again and roll out.
• Knead the marzipan until it is soft and pliable and place in the centre of the rolled out dough. roll out as well. place the marzipan in the centre of the rolled out dough;
• Roll the Stollen over with the marzipan inside and place on an greased baking tray to rise again for 2 – 3 hours;
• Cover with a double layer of greaseproof paper to prevent it from burning and bake for 1 ½ hours.
• When you take it out, allow to cool a little and then brush generously with melted butter and cover with sifted icing sugar.
• Leave to cool on a wire tray
• As soon as it has cooled down, wrap in foil or place in an airtight container and keep cool;
• It looks very nice if you sift a little icing sugar over it when you serve it.
• Note:  If you don’t like marzipan, exclude it!