 Stollen is a German bread made traditionally around Christmastime. First made in Dresden, Germany around the 1400s, stollen was made to represent the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes, but was made without butter or milk and was a rather tasteless pastry. Still, it was a popular Christmas pastry, and from 1560 onwards, stollen bakers would deliver one or two 36 pound stollen to the Saxon king yearly.
Because Advent was a time of fasting, there was a ban on the use of butter in baked goods. Oil was used as a replacement, but made the bread tasteless. In 1647, Elector Lord Ernst of Saxony and his brother Albrecht appealed to the Pope to lift the butter ban explaining that oil was expensive and hard to come by. The Pope lifted the ban for the Prince and his family to make the Christmas bread, but did not lift the ban for the general public until 1691.
With the use of butter, stollen became more popular and the recipe started to sway from the original, tasteless pastry to a sweeter one containing candied and liqueur-soaked fruits and nuts, which is more similar to the one eaten around the world today.
Sources:
Wikipedia, July 6, 2024
dresdnerstollen.com July 6, 2024
Stollen fun fact: In 1730, a stollen weighing in at 1.8 tons was made in Dresden, Germany. |
