Stollen (Advent — German Christmas Bread)

Stollen — the German Christmas bread of yeast-leavened enriched dough with dried fruit, marzipan, and spices — is one of the oldest and most distinctive seasonal baked goods in Europe, with a documented history stretching back to the 15th century in Dresden. The Dresden Christstollen is protected by appellation: it must be made in the Dresden region to bear the name. The preparation is an enriched yeast dough (similar in construction to brioche) with the addition of large quantities of dried fruit soaked in rum, mixed peel, almonds, and warming spices. The characteristic fold (the dough is shaped and folded to create the overlapping loaf form suggesting the swaddled Christ child) and the coating of molten butter and icing sugar after baking are defining steps. Stollen is better after one to two weeks of ageing — the fruit and butter and sugar meld into a flavour that is impossible to achieve on the day of baking.