Weihnachtsstollen

Funny how so many of our Christmas traditions stem from Germany - down in great part to Prince Albert apparently. I'm not a cake person generally, but Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a stollen - indeed that was one of the things I was hoping to pick up from the German Christmas market - until I saw how much they were asking for them! And I don't think they were the genuine article either - Germans will tell you that "real" stollen only comes from Dresden. Considering how rich and tasty it is, it's surprising to find that it started out as a fasting food - made to be eaten during Advent. But it was so dry and unappetising that somehow the good burghers of Dresden got a papal dispensation to add butter to the mix which instantly transformed it into something like the delicacy we enjoy today. Apparently when Dresden was behind the iron curtain there was a thriving illegal cross-border market in stollen, because the West couldn't get enough of them, and you could sell them for much-sought-after dollars. Anyway I shall go and get mine from Lidl, so there!