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Stollen


eatrustic

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Thanks for the suggestion Zuke but I tried two slices and threw the rest in the garbage! I wouldn't demean great quality products like the Tiger Blue with a poor "platform" It really is over the top sweet and I felt ripped off by the pretense at making the real thing.

On the other hand the Andy's Bakery version which I didn't find great by the standard of Thomas Hass is fine to nibble on as it is simple and subtle.

The Marco Ropke pastry site looks really interesting and I would love to try his Stollen but I think it is a bit late as I'm Christmasing out of town.

Who is Marco Ropke? I have never heard of him but his stuff looks great.

Merry Christmas to all !!

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The Marco Ropke pastry site looks really interesting and I would love to try his Stollen but I think it is a bit late as I'm Christmasing out of town.

Who is Marco Ropke? I have never heard of him but his stuff looks great.

Merry Christmas to all !!

Marco Ropke is the Pastry Instructor/Chef at Northwest Culinary Academy. See here and scroll down a bit.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Thanks for the suggestion Zuke but I tried two slices and threw the rest in the garbage! I wouldn't demean great quality products like the Tiger Blue with a poor "platform" It really is over the top sweet and I felt ripped off by the pretense at making the real thing.

On the other hand the Andy's Bakery version which I didn't find great by the standard of Thomas Hass is fine to nibble on as it is simple and subtle.

The Marco Ropke pastry site looks really interesting and I would love to try his Stollen but I think it is a bit late as I'm Christmasing out of town.

Who is Marco Ropke? I have never heard of him but his stuff looks great.

Merry Christmas to all !!

Wow, Eatruistic, I'm impressed with the stollen quest. I was just glancing at this thread again, and I'm wondering what your stollen total count for the season was? It took me nearly the whole season to work my way through the one large stollen I had from Choices (Yum! A gift from my Choices friend, after I raved last year about the one she gave me the previous year).

Nancy

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Man, I didn't think to see this thread again for about 11 months.

I only bought 5-6 Stollens, one of which I tossed. Normally I woud buy one or two but this was a crusade. When they're good they get eaten real fast.

I found a decent one in Edmonton at La Favorite Bakery just after Christmas and Ling's mention of the Stollens at La Baguette had me checking them out with not a lot of enthusiasm as the time had passed. Just as well 'cause they were pretty hard.

My only regret was not hearing about Marco Ropke's Stollen in time to try it.

Apparently the absolute best Stollen came from a limited production that Cliff Leir the former inspiration behind Wild Fire Bakery had made. The boys at Elysian Room got a hold of one over the holidays and I trust their judgement that it was incredible to the point of making grown men weep.

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  • 10 months later...

Bought a small stollen from Thomas Haas for $18. It is very sweet for a stollen. However, I thought stollens are supposed to be shaped like baby Jesus swathed in his blanket. This one is almost rectangular

I've heard of Four Season's stollen. Is it too late to order? Does anyone know if I could simply buy a slice? Last year I faintly remember someone having tea with stollen at FS.

Does Mixx bakery have stollens this year and is it good?

Does Notte's Bon Ton have stollen? I hesitate to try it out as I thought their Pannetone was terrible. Does their stollen fair any better?

Thought this thread needed a bump for the season.

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Yes, I was thinking about this thread too. I'm going to check out the Four Seasons this week to see if they are offering stollen this year. I didn't see anything on their web site. I'll report back.

Cheers,

Anne

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Bought a small stollen from Thomas Haas for $18.  It is very sweet for a stollen.  However, I thought stollens are supposed to be shaped like baby Jesus swathed in his blanket.  This one is almost rectangular

I noticed the same thing when I stopped by Senses last week to see if they were out yet.

He has two sizes: the small one for $18. and the larger size for $25. (Seems like the price creeps up each year). The large one is the classic "baby jesus" shape and if you are willing to pay $25. for an 800gr. Stollen then the $18. version seems like a ripoff as it is a lot smaller and as mentioned is just a quickly made rectangle.

Perhaps it's because I bought one earlier this year but they are nice and moist. Perhaps more suited to N. American tastes.

...and just like last year one slice leads to another until....$25 bucks and a day and a half later...

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Is there much of a difference between stollen and panettone?

Panettone is made with eggs as well as butter and is much lighter (the reason it needs to be in a mold to rise). Stollen has no egg and is relatively dense, sort of like a yeasted shortbread texture.

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Is there much of a difference between stollen and panettone?

Panettone is made with eggs as well as butter and is much lighter (the reason it needs to be in a mold to rise). Stollen has no egg and is relatively dense, sort of like a yeasted shortbread texture.

There are undoubtely variations. I've always made stollen, both at home and professionally, with eggs. I'd describe it as a rich, yeasted, fruit and nut coffee bread.

Buen provecho, Panosmex
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Four Seasons does have stollen. They are a small rectangle - about 6 inches by 3, I'd say - and sell for $18 including GST. They are available for sale at a small table in the reception area.

Also Quince is offering stollen this year, I don't know about the prices, sizes etc.

Cheers,

Anne

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Four Seasons does have stollen.  They are a small rectangle - about 6 inches by 3, I'd say - and sell for $18 including GST. They are available for sale at a small table in the reception area.

These sound like a perfect size for my lunchbox. Do you know what hours they are available for sale? I tasted this at a 4-seasons dinner a few years back and it was fantastic. I didn't know you could buy them.

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Four Seasons does have stollen.  They are a small rectangle - about 6 inches by 3, I'd say - and sell for $18 including GST. They are available for sale at a small table in the reception area.

These sound like a perfect size for my lunchbox. Do you know what hours they are available for sale? I tasted this at a 4-seasons dinner a few years back and it was fantastic. I didn't know you could buy them.

Sorry, I don't know. I was there after work, around 5:30 pm.

You could call the reception desk and ask them to hold one for you, since they are open 24/7. The Four Seasons is the kind of place that will make some effort to accommodate you in my experience.

Cheers,

Anne

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REALLY good stollen at Mix Bakery, and probably they'll sample it again but yesterday I ate all the samples. Now am compelled to go back and get a whole one for me !!

Swedish date had a fruit coffee cake thing he really enjoyed . Hope he doesn't notice if I bring home and slightly hide whole stollen ...

Very appealing cafe - we were happy to find such a great spot in a neighbourhood we pass through....

Sorry but no info on price - distracted entirely by deliciousness.

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I bought a stollen at Quince yesterday - a very reasonable $8.

It isn't quite the right shape - too rectangular and flat, and the dough is lighter than I was expecting. But the fruit (candied in-house, I believe) and marzipan were top notch and it didn't have the cloying sweetness that I find often ruins this bread.

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Thanks gingerpeachy, I thought Quince might be a good source.

Here's a nice description of a "Stollen Parade" in Dresden:

I was in Dresden, on Saturday, and the Christmas market there is mind-boggling: gingerbread, stollen, schneeballen . There was some kind of parade of culinary professionals along the edge of the market, too, in Old Town, including the Dresden Stollen team, who were carrying a samurai-sized sword/stollen-cutting knife on a wooden display slung over their shoulders. Along with them, marched butchers and a bunch of chefs. I love a town that throws a parade for food professionals. 

from this thread elsewhere on eG.

Cheers,

Anne

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Couldn't resist and tried a free sample being offered by Cobbs. Their Stollen is $14.95 and the sample, although made the day before, was dry and not particularly flavourful. I got the usual speech about how they get better as they get older blah, blah (I know it's true when they are well made, although the German style is drier than we seem to like here). ....But if it's already dry it can't improve much more.

Now I wonder if anyone has tasted the Marco Ropke stollen mentioned here last year? I checked his website and don't see them being offered. I heard they were pricey as well.

So far Thomas Hass reigns supreme.

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  • 10 months later...

The online fruitcake topic only added fuel to the fire - a few days ago I called Dean and Deluca to inquire about a stollen. They have them (I used to purchase them from their "Flagship" store in Soho when I spent time in NYC) but they haven't listed them in the online catalog yet.

I then began thinking over all the stollen's I have purchased for my 80 year old Mother (who adores them). Believe it or not, the Dean and Deluca one was the worst one she'd had - I found a nice German bakery in Helen, GA and she loved that one - so we are planning a weekend trip to Helen to pick up one for her but I am curious about recommendations of Stollens - online, bakeries, etc.

I am aware this may be merged...which works for me...just want to gather some info and perhaps a few more Stollens for Mother.

Whoever said that man cannot live by bread alone...simply did not know me.
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My Mom always made wonderful stollen every Christmas. For us, it's just not Christmas without it.

I've looked into purchasing them and they always disappoint, so now I've taken up the mantle and bake them for my family.

Weaver Street Market in Carrboro, NC made the only one that I thought was worth buying, but it's been 10 years since I moved to NY and don't know whether they still do. But they were great! Lots of dried cherries soaked in Sherry, I think. Hearty on the bread side, but moist and intensely flavorful.

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Unfortunately, Stollen, (or Julekake, as they call the similar Norwegian bread,) just doesn't have the shelf life of a fruitcake.

I'm sorry, mail order yeast breads just don't do it for me.

Anything that is half-way edible after a week is going to be so pumped up with preservatives, that you're better off without.

Edited by eje (log)

---

Erik Ellestad

If the ocean was whiskey and I was a duck...

Bernal Heights, SF, CA

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I :wub: Zingerman's! I didn't even think about them. My partner is from Ann Arbor and we spent a week there and Zingerman's was on my list of places to go and things to do. OMG...the pastrami there was heavenly and everything else I could get my greedy hands on as well.

I will check out their website and see their offering.

eje - I've had some very well made and delectable breads/pastries that I've ordered before - I've ordered from Poilâne that reduced me to tears it was so awesome.

Whoever said that man cannot live by bread alone...simply did not know me.
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Trader Joe's tends to carry Stollen seasonally. I've seen both a 'regular' and a marzipan-filled version, from different bakers. The 'marzipanstollen' is excellent. :wub: Not so fond of the Panettone...

David aka "DCP"

Amateur protein denaturer, Maillard reaction experimenter, & gourmand-at-large

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