Stollen

Stollen, a German Christmas fruit/nut/spice cake that dates as far back as the 15th century, has a better rap and is tastier than our maligned fruitcake. Varieties include different fillings like poppy seeds, nougat, and marzipan (my favorite). As soon as it comes out of the oven it is slathered in butter and covered with powdered sugar to help preserve it and give it a snowy look. The "standard" size weighs about 4 pounds and some stalls make them the size of 2x4s.

Apparently, in the old days, advent was a time of fasting and bakers were not allowed to use butter. The cakes were tasteless and hard. Prince Ernst wrote to the Pope in 1450 to remedy the situation. Pope Nicholas V denied the first appeal and 5 more popes came and went before the Prince received a letter in 1490 known as the "butter letter," which finally granted the use of butter. For that, I am most grateful!

On the snowy morning in Stuttgart I found a baker who had just pulled stollen konfect cookies out of a small oven. The warm version with marzipan put the cakes to shame and ranks up there, with my fresh lebkuchen in Nuremberg, as my top 5.