STOLLEN MY HEART

Soon, soon, soon... why not now, why not already? Why still just soon, soon, soon? 

It started out as a fascination, one I meant to investigate, yet life kept getting in the way. I didn't anticipate much, until it struck me that this German bread had somehow, already stolen my heart.

Honestly, I've never had Stollen before, not raw or baked. 

I just figured between fruitcake, fruit mince pies, ginger bread men and sugar cookie stars, I'm covered when it comes to festive sweet treats. Besides, what more could stale bread with sparse bits of dried and candied fruit possibly offer me that I didn't already have in those?

Marzipan... okay, that got me curious for the first time. 

It's not like I've ever been particularly fond of the stuff, rather that I am a huge fan of traditional fruitcake at weddings, and a small part of that tradition is covering it in golden marzipan and snow white fondant, something they don't do with Christmas fruitcake.

Store bought Marzipan however has always looked awfully suspicious to me - with an ingredient list a mile long - so I went in search of an authentic recipe, something people used to make at home. 

I found one from a German food writer. No doubt, I definitely wanted to try my hand at the Marzipan, but wasn't about to cover any fruitcakes just yet, then I noticed the Stollen, and its recipe would use up the whole batch, so it was ideal, since I wouldn't be wasting any Marzipan in the process. 

Now, I've never had any taste for raw dough, not even cookie dough, but when I cook and bake, I naturally give things a sniff, and a taste along the way - it's an integral part of the process to me. 

With this one, I guess I would call it, love at first taste - and I'm referring to the dough, not even the finished product. At that point I regretted that I had not even bothered to capture a single picture of the process... so it's safe to say that the Stollen was not my primary focus. 

However, after tasting the home made Marzipan too, there was no going back for me anymore. 

The store bought stuff around here, is everything but Marzipan. Seriously, how delicious is this original stuff? Were it not intended for this recipe, I could have easily finished that whole log by myself.

Now I already knew the dough was out of this world, so too the stuffing, and it took a lot of self control not to eat large portions of both of those before the time... yet could I be even more impressed? 

Surprisingly enough, yes. A resounding, hell yes. 

The fragrance that wafted through the home while it was baking in the oven, was like magical blossoms permeating the air with festive cheer. If I could have captured it and reproduced it here, I would gladly have shared it with the whole world too.

When it finally came out the oven, still hot and fragrant, I poked it full of holes, smothered it in melted butter and robed the steaming breads in layers, upon layers, of icing sugar.

It's apparently important to rub it into all the nooks and crannies before you let it sit to cool down.

Once cooled down, I had to especially restrain myself - since I was not even allowed one little bite of it - they first have to mature for two weeks and after that they are all intended for Christmas Lunch.

Longingly I sprinkled more icing sugar over them, wrapped them up in cling wrap, then foil, and stashed them away (out of sight) in a cool dark place - and tried my best to forget we ever met.

Seriously, how is it that I've only come to discover the beauty in this unassuming masterpiece, this late in my life? And why must I still wait here for it, why can't I taste the real deal already?

Right now, I suspect that I may just shed a tear when I finally do - when we finally get behind closed doors, and I'm able to surrender fully in that moment - yet only time will tell if the finished product, the real deal, will be as good as the little glimpses of delight I've had thus far. 

Soon, soon, soon... hopefully soon I'll finally get to taste and know that answer too.

WORDS: rhodenel©25NOV2024 

PHOTOGRAPHY: rhoderuth©NOV2024