Stollen

Stollen is a rich, fruity yeast bread with a marzipan filling, dusted with icing sugar. It is made in Germany as a festival cake to celebrate Christmas, and is now popular across the rest of Europe and North America. It is also known as Christmas Stollen, Christollen and Dresden (or Dresdner) Christollen after the city of Dresden where the bread originated.

The cake is prepared using plain white flour, yeast, currants and raisins (soaked in rum) and flavoured with candied peel, almonds, lemon zest and cardamom. The dough is wrapped around a marzipan filling, made with ground almonds, sugar, egg and lemon juice, and shaped into a long oval with tapered ends to symbolise the baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes. When cooked, it is dusted with icing sugar, and served as a pudding or with coffee or tea.