"Dresden takes the...

...cake stollen.  And it all happens at Striezelmarkt!

Dresden - a baroque city in the Saxony region of Germany, near the Czech Border

Stollen - not your mother's fruitcake.

Striezelmarkt - Germany's oldest Christmas market in Dresden

"Welcome to Germany's Oldest Christmas Market"
Dresden, Germany

When you come from a German family where your Opa is a German baker, and your Oma is from Dresden...then visiting the Striezelmarkt in Dresden is a no-brainer dumkopf!  

Striezel = Struzel = Stollen

"Got Stollen?"

So basically, Dresden's Striezelmarkt is a Christmas market revolving around the German Christmas bread I kinda loathed growing up.  Yep, every year Opa would mail us a few loaves of Stollen.  And every year, I'd smear Parkay margarine on it to cover up the taste AND mask the dryness (we were frugal Germans...we didn't have butter).  And every year, I'm sure Opa would have cringed...had he known. The funny thing is, as much as I hated it then...I kinda love it now. So this past Christmas season, I ventured to the epi-center of Stollen heaven, and from where my Oma and her family hail.  Dresden, Germany. And just in time for the 580th annual Streizelmarkt. Yep 5 - 8 - 0!  Acht du lieber!

"Awaiting Arrival"
Dresden, Germany

"Zacharias the Streizelbacker"

(Zacharias was the master baker who presented August the Strong, King of Saxony, with the first 1.8 ton Stollen)

"Stollen Procession"
Dresden, Germany

"Pomp and Circumstance"
Dresden, Germany

Striezelmarkt runs thru the Advent season.   And the Saturday before the second Sunday of Advent is a very special Saturday.  The Stollen Processional.  Yep, the parade of stollen thru the Baroque old city streets of Dresden.  Seriously!  For those not familiar with stollen, let me tell ya...there are LOTS of different kinds.  Almond-stollen, Butterstollen, Poppyseed-stollen, Quarkstollen, Marzipanstollen.  There are many stollen recipes passed down familially.  My Opa's stollen was laden with alcohol...which is one reason I personally covered it in a layer of Parkay.  Most stollens are very low in sugar.  The lack of  moisture and low levels of sugar are what distinguishes it from fruitcake...blech!  Even Parkay wouldn't have helped the cause of fruitcake to moi growing up.

But Dresdner Christstollen is probably the most well known.  Produced during the Christmas season.  Shaped into  loaves representative of the baby Jesus swaddled in white.  To be classified as Dresdner Christstollen it must be baked within Dresden boundaries.  For every 10 grams of flour it must contain 3 grams of butter, 7 grams of dried fruit and candied orange/lemon peel, and 1 gram of almonds.  After baked, it must be stored at least 3 weeks in a dark cool place to allow the dried fruits to absorb moisture.  And it is doused with powdered sugar.  Only then, will the official seal of the Saxon King August the Strong be placed upon Dresdner Christstollen. Whew!

(ya wanna see the humongous stollen's arrival?  Click onto the video)

This particular stollen that is horse drawn thru the streets of Dresden?  It's baked by members of the Trade Protection Society Dresden Stollen (150 Dresden bakers and bakeries) who accompany it along it's parade route.  This is not your mutter's stollen.  It weighs several tons (that's a scheisse-load of Parkay!)  At least I HOPE it's not your mutter's stollen.  And yes, there is quite a bit of pomp and circumstance involved.  This is a big deal.  As witnessed by the little German hausfrau who body checked me because I was blocking her view.  

"A Good View"
Dresden, Germany

"Backerei"
Dresden, Germany

After the stollen arrives in the center of the Striezelmarkt, a master baker cuts the stollen with a long stollen knife weighing 26 pounds.  Why?  I have no idea.  Except to say this is just how it's always been done.  Typical of the German mentality I grew up with..."Because I SAID SO!"   Afterwards the pieces are cut up in to smaller sections and sold in the Striezelmarkt.

"Bakers at Work"

Dresden, Germany

"Dresden Christstollen"

Dresden, Germany

I had a wonderful, and fattening, time taste-testing my way thru Dresden. TRYING to find a stollen that replicated my Opa's.  His was a recipe that didn't require documentation.  It was in his brain.  And that's where it stayed.  Because he was not from Dresden, like my Oma, his stollen was a bit different.  Not sure exactly HOW, but it was.  As luck would have it, I DID find my Opa's stollen in Dresden.  As luck would NOT have it...I went back the next day to purchase some to bring home and, it was gone.  I think Opa might have liked that.  Probably because he thought I would have put Parkay on it.

"The Dresdener and the Baker"
(Oma and Opa...Hilda and Max)

I also think Oma and Opa were probably pretty happy that my mom, sister and I were in search of the perfect stollen in the heart of Dresden.  I know we were!

"Is it Butter, or is it Parkay?"
(Mom, Moi, Sister #2)

Let them eat cake  stollen!  Danke!

P.S.  Check back next week for more photos and musings of Dresden, Germany.

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