WHO COOKED THAT UP?

  J. J. Schnebel wonders...

My Grandmother, who was born in Austria, called it "Christstollen" because it is essentially a Christmas fruit bread.   Actually, the tradition began as early as 1400 A.D., when there was a ban on the use of butter and sweet ingredients as part of the fasting practices of the Catholic Church during Advent or the four weeks preceding Christmas.  At that time the Christmas bread ("Christbrot") was a rather tasteless mixture of flour, yeast, oil and water.  In 1641 Elector Ernst of Saxony and his brother Albrecht took measures requesting that the ban on butter be lifted for the production of a truly festive Christmas bread.  Eventually the Pope wrote what became known as the "butter letter" permitting the Dresden bakers to use butter and dried fruit in their Christmas bread, a privilege for which the bakers had to pay an annual fine, and the money was to be used for a church building fund.

And so the tradition began.   In order to identify the special bread, the bakers rolled it in such a way that it is made to resemble the wrapping of the swaddling clothes of the Babe in the manger, and it is dusted all about with confectioners' sugar.  A good keeper, the bread is often prepared days or weeks in advance and given as a Christmas gift.  In the late middle ages there also were giant stollens made for grand celebrations and that tradition has been revived today. The Dresden bakers compete for the best stollen of the year, and there is an annual selection of a Stollen Maiden (see photo above), often wielding a ceremonial knife and sharing pieces of a giant sized stollen in a grand town celebration.

Many a Christmas catalog in the U.S. today features mail order stollen, from Dresden as well as American and Canadian bakeries, but the tradition also continues in homes with a German background all over the world.  A traditional recipe is included here, and there are many others online, including one from Martha Stewart's mother, listed below.

Whether your stollen is store bought or home made, it is a delightful addition to a holiday celebration.  A breakfast of stollen and coffee makes a very good accompaniment to the opening of gifts on Christmas morning!

6 cups or more of all-purpose flour
2 packages yeast
1/4 lb. butter (one stick)
1 Tablespoon vegetable shortening
1 cup milk
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 large (or 3 small) eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
few grains of cardamom, ground
1 cup mixed candied fruit and peel
(including citron, orange, grapefruit and lemon, plus cherries and pineapple)
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup sliced almonds
rind of 1 lemon, grated (about 2 teaspoons)
juice of half an orange (about 1/4 cup)
 

1) Warm a large bowl by rinsing it in hot water.  Dry bowl and place in it 5 cups of flour.
Dissolve yeast and 1/2 teaspoon of the white sugar in 1/2 cup warm water.  Make a well in the center of the flour and pour yeast mixture into it.  Gently cover well with flour from the sides of the bowl.  Let stand 5 minutes.

2) Melt butter and shortening together in a small saucepan.  In a medium saucepan warm the milk until heat bubbles form around the sides of the pan.  Add brown sugar and white sugar to the warm milk and stir until sugars are dissolved.

3) To the flour mixture add eggs, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, sugars and milk, butter and shortening.  Mix well with a large wooden spoon.  Spread a half cup of flour on a large surface or bread board and dust hands with flour before turning out dough.  Turn and mix bread dough with both hands, adding more flour if necessary.  The mixture will be sticky and lumpy at first, but then, through kneading and the addition of more flour, it will become smooth and elastic until it no longer sticks to hands and board but comfortably forms a firm ball of dough.

4) Place dough in a large bowl and cover bowl with plastic wrap.  Set it in a warm place and let it double in size (about 1 1/2 hours).

5)  Grease 2 loaf pans if you plan to make two ordinary bread loaves, or grease a cooky sheet if you plan to make one large traditional oval shaped bread.

6) Punch down dough and add candied fruit and peel, raisins, almonds, lemon rind and orange juice.  Mix and turn out onto floured board.  Once again knead until smooth and the fruits and nuts are evenly distributed.

7) For two bread loaves, divide dough in half, pat into ovals and place in greased pans.
For traditional stollen shape, pat dough into a large oval about one inch thick, brush with melted butter, and fold over lengthwise into an oval.  Press firmly on fold side only.
Place on greased cooky sheet.

8) Place stollen in a warm place and allow to rise to double in bulk (about 2 hours).

9) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (or to 325 if glass pans are used).  Bake about 40-50 minutes.

10)  Remove from oven and cool for 15 minutes.  While warm, turn out onto a rack.  Brush with melted butter and sprinkle liberally with powdered sugar.

Who Cooked That Up? is copyrighted 2005 by J.J. Schnebel
all rights reserved for your pleasure and enlightenment

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