Stollen

Stollen's culinary lineage derives from a long history of festive holiday foods. Related foods are fruitcake, panettone, Dreikonigsbrot, three kings cake/king cake and babka. What do these sweet breads have in common? They were developed in Europe during Medieval times and were traditionally saved for holiday times because they were expensive. Cook of all times and places save their very best ingredients for special occasions. These special holiday yeast cakes were made with the cook's finest wheat flour, white sugar, butter, eggs, and dried fruit; some included rich filling, such as marzipan [almond paste]. Three kings cakes (related to New Orleans' King Cake) required similar ingredients and were/are connected with Twelfth Night and Mardi Gras.

"Holiday breads...

The spices used in...holiday breads...and their symbolic shapes and meaning vary. However, they are all based on the same type coffee-cake dough, and each is an integral part of some festivity in its native country...The Dresdener Stollen recipes...is the most famous of many regional variations of Germany's Christmas bread."

"Stollen

a rich fruit bread/cake from central Germany, especially the city of Dresden...the name is derived from an Old High German word, stollo, meaning a support or post. The characteristic shape of Stollen--oblong, tapered at each end with a ridge down the centre--is said to repersent the Christ Child in swaddling clothes, whence the name Christollen sometimes given to it. The Dresden Stollen, now known internationally as a Christmas specialty, is made from a rich, sweet yeast dough, mixed with milk, eggs, sugar, and butter, sometimes flavoured with lemon. Raisins, sultanas, currants, rum or brandy, candied peel, and almonds are worked into the dough. After baking, the Stollen is painted with melted butter and dusted with sugar. It may then be further decorated with candied fruits..."