Shaped like an oblong, flat loaf of bread, studded with almonds and raisins and flavored with orange and lemon, stollen was first created in the ovens of the eastern city of Dresden almost 600 years ago.
So important is the cake to the country, and in particular, the city of Dresden, that bakers must meet a stringent quality test in order to call their products genuine "Dresden Stollen." There is even an Association for the Protection of Dresden Stollen, which represents 150 producers, and sets the quality test for “superior” stollen. (so sniffing is apparently a criteria for judging stollen).
The first Stollen in the Middle Ages was a more austere affair -- a dry cake made of flour, yeast and water which nourished people through the fasting period leading up to Christmas. It was known as "Christbrod" ("Bread of Christ") and because of its shape, it represented the swaddled body of the infant Jesus.
In the 15th century, the Electoral Princes of Saxony found the cake too dry and in 1491, they were granted permission by Pope Innocent VIII to add butter to the recipe. Now that is a happening use for a papal decree.
The Stollen also became a form of currency in Communist times. Unlike the nationalized industries, bakers were not allowed to export their goods but customers would buy stollen by the dozen and send them to friends or relatives on the other side of the Iron Curtain in exchange for deutsche marks. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and Germany was reunified a year later, sales of Stollen dropped because the people of Saxony no longer needed to exchange the cakes for western currency.
Now, I have tried the stollen, and like the fruit cake, it must be an acquired taste. Still, when in Germany, do as the Germans do….
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