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German Christmas Traditions: Baking Stollen + #Giveaway

While we didn't really bake Stollen on our recent airberlin trip to Dresden (it was for the grater good, trust me!), we surely ate lots of it. And over and over again we found this buttery cake made with dried fruits, nuts, marzipan and spices, irresistible. But in all honesty, nowhere else did this German Christmas pastry taste as good as at Wippler's Bakery.

German Christmas Stollen

What is Stollen?

Stollen is eaten during the Christmas season and our timing couldn't have been more perfect. Baking Stollen is big business in Dresden, but... not all Stollen was created equal. There's only one 'official' Stollen, and to distinguish it, a special seal was created. No more than 150 bakeries in and around Dresden can use the seal, and Bäckerei Wippler is one of them.

The official seal

Wipple's Stollen with the official seal

Our visit to Wippler's Bakery in Dresden

Wippler's Bakery was founded in 1910 and it has been run by the same family for three generations, with the forth generation deeply involved in the family business. We visited them one morning and we didn't only get to taste their different Stollen recipes, but also to have a look behind the scenes, in the kitchen.

I guess for me, this was the most emotional moment of our trip to Germany. As we gobbled bite-size Stollen slices, we also tried the poppy seed Stollen. This greatly reminded me of a very similar pastry my grandma used to bake. She was a simple woman, but her poppy seed cake was the best in the world. Wipple's poppy seed Stollen is the closest to my grandma's cake I've ever had and probably ever will again. Women in my family could never really grasp the secret ingredient my grandma used in her Stollen. It was probably a part of her unique soul...

We tried 3 different Stollen recipes

After eating the Stollen, we were shown to what was a small museum filled with old utensils. Today, the Wipple people use a bit more modern tools to bake their cakes and pastries, but they still make the products by hand and their working day starts at 1AM. In my world, one only makes this kind of sacrifice out of passion.

Max Wippler was the founder of the Wippler bakery

The traditional weight of a Stollen is 4.4 pounds (2 kg). The pastry needs to be made well in advance and left to age for a few weeks, Nevertheless, this makes it ideal for shipping it worldwide, and you can actually ~~bake~~ buy your Stollen here.

We were given a tour of the kitchen by Michael, the owner of the bakery

Walking through the large kitchen proved to be even more inspiring and entertaining than expected. It was a pastry wonderland in all its glory! We got to taste a few more pastries on our journey through the kitchen and everything was mouthwatering.

Large Stollen

Working in the kitchen

Many other pastries are baked in the Wippler's kitchen

Almost 600 years of Stollen

The tradition of baking Stollen started over 500 years ago at the Saxon Royal Court. But back then, eating butter during the Advent season was prohibited, and the original Stollen wasn't very tasty. However, after pursuing the Pope for many years, he finally gave in and allowed the Saxon people to eat butter in exchange for an annual tax. Tough times!

Nowadays, Stollen is probably the most famous German Christmas pastry and a reason for pride. In Dresden, they even organize a Stollen Festival where a huge Stollen weighing three to four tonnes parades through the streets on its way to the Christmas Market where it is ceremoniously cut and distributed among the crowd. Even the knife used to cut it is special!

Enter the giveaway for the chance to win one large Stollen (4.4 pounds/2kg)

***GIVEAWAY***

Since we loved the Stollen we had at Wippler's Bakery so much, we are offering the chance to win one large Stollen (aprox 4.4 pounds/2kg). The Stollen will be shipped directly from Dresden by Michael Wippler himself and it will have the official seal. The Stollen can be shipped anywhere in the world. This is a delicious gift you can savor with your family this Christmas season!

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