Holiday Bread!

Stollen

Long before the Romans occupied parts of Germany, special breads were prepared for the winter solstice that were rich in dried or preserved fruit. Historians have traced Christollen, Christ's stollen, back to about the year 1400 in Dresden, Ger-many. The first stollen consisted of only flour, oats and water, as required by church doctrine, but without butter and milk, it was quite tasteless. Ernst of Saxony and his brother Albrecht requested of the Pope that the ban on butter and milk during the Advent season be lifted. His Eminence replied in what is known as the famous "butter letter," that milk and butter could be used to bake stollen with a clear conscience and God's blessing for a small fee. Originally stollen was called Striezel or Struzel, which referred to a braided shape -- a large oval folded in half with tapered ends -- said to represent the Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothing. Around 1560 it became custom that the bakers of Dresden give their king, the ruler of Saxony, two 36-pound stollens as a Christmas gift. It took eight master bakers and eight journeymen to carry the bread to the palace safely. This custom was continued for almost 200 years. In 1730 Augustus the Strong, the electoral prince of Saxony and the King of Poland, asked the Baker's Guild of Dresden to bake a giant stollen for the farewell dinner of the Zeithain "campement." The 1.8-ton stollen was a true showpiece and fed over 24,000 guests. To commemorate this event, a Stollenfest is held each December in Dresden. The bread for the present-day Stollenfest weighs 2 tons and measures approximately 4 yards long. Each year the stollen is paraded through the market square, then sliced and sold to the public, with the proceeds supporting local charities. Although there is a basic recipe for making the original Dresden Christollen, each master baker, each village and each home has its own secret recipe passed down from one generation to the next. There are probably as many recipes for stollen as there are home bakers.

Cardamom Bread

Cardamom (frequently misspelled and mispronounced "cardamon") is the common name for several plant species native to India and southeastern Asia. Cardamom is used for their aromatic pods and seeds.

Cardamom Bread, called Pulla in Finland, is enjoyed by Swedes throughout the year but especially at Christmas. It is a braided loaf, usually three or four braids. Traditionally parl sugar is sprinkled on the top before it is baked. I t is a sweet bread and is best with coffee. There are those who claim it is fantastic with peanut butter. Person-ally I toast it and spread it with butter.

Julekage

Julekage, from "Yule" meaning Christmas and "kage" meaning cake. This is Norwegian Christmas cake or loaf and it would not be Christmas morning without a slice of Julekage toasted with butter and served with coffee.

It is a sweet bread with candied fruit and raisins. The recipes vary. Some have only candied cherries and citron with golden raisins. Others have lemon and orange candied fruit with currants. What ever the mix, that subtle taste of car-damom winds its way through the loaf and when toasted, it wakes up the whole house.

Kolache

Kolache is from Central Europe and is a name given to any sweet pastry which uses raised dough. The loaves baked by Pastor Michnay have poppy seed or walnut filling. The loaves are about 15 inches long. They are wonder-ful with morning coffee or afternoon break or the evening.

Mandelbrod

Mandelbrot is Yiddish for almond bread and is actually a twice-baked cookie loved by Askenazi (Eastern European) Jews. Mandelbrot originated either from Italian biscotti or the Sephardic biscochadas dulces. Mandelbrot keeps and freezes well. The essential ingredient -- almonds -- has a sym-bolic significance since it is mentioned 73 times in the Bible.

However there are two or three kinds available from us: Walnut/Chocolate Chip, Cherry/Almond, Craisin/Orange

Challah

Challah is a special braided bread eaten on the Sabbath and holidays. Traditional challah recipes use a large number of eggs, fine white flour, water, yeast, and sugar. Modern recipes may use fewer eggs (there are also "eggless" versions) or mayonnaise and may replace white flour with whole wheat, oat, or spelt flour. Sometimes honey or molasses is substituted as a sweetener. The dough is rolled into rope-shaped pieces which are braided and brushed with an egg wash before baking to add a golden sheen. Sometimes raisins are added. Some bakers like to sprinkle sesame or poppy seeds on top for fla-vor. Challah is usually parve (containing neither dairy nor meat, important in the laws of Kashrut). Our recipe this year will use mayonnaise, a recipe used by the rabbi's wife.

Swedish Rye/Limpa

In Scandinavia, similar breads are made, some of which also include sweeteners and/or citrus peel, as well as spices such as anise, fennel or cardamom, when made for more festive occasions (such as in the Swedish limpa).

Irv's Swedish Rye uses anise and fennel. Limpa contains a mix of three spices—caraway, anise and fennel seed (crushed) and orange zest. Both bread are dense and are marvelous with shard cheese and ham.

Bohemian Hoska

This is a Christmas bread from Bohemia which is a part of the Czech Re-public. It is filled with raisins and walnuts and has the flavor of cinnamon and anise. It is wonderful toasted and buttered, or spread with peanut but-ter. It will be available on a first come first serve basis Saturday mornings at $10.00 a loaf.

Assorted Cookies

There will be two kinds of cookies available each Saturday morning on a first come basis: Chocolate covered coconut macaroons and Cherry-almond and white- chocolate dipped cookies.