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12/18/2002 Archived Entry: "Stollen"

Just because I am Jewish doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate some of the foods of Christmas. Fruit cake is the brunt of many jokes, but I even I used to eagerly anticipate a gift of a fruit cake that a friend made when she was in business, the food business. It was more fruit than cake, with a ton of good nuts, barely held together with batter and packed overflowing into a soufflé dish. I could always tell how well my friend’s business was that year by the size of the cake she made. I still have a stack of those soufflé dishes in my kitchen. They nest, the good business year ones on the outside, her tiny-dish bad years on the inside.

Nowadays, I am more involved with stollen, the German Christmas loaf. I have received two this year and they both went immediately into the freezer so I wouldn’t gobble them up prematurely. I know them and me too well.

One of them, Frau Helga Dresden Stollen, is widely available. You can tell by the quality markets that carry it how high-quality the cake is. In Manhattan, it is carried at Zabar’s, Grace’s Marketplace, Jefferson Market, Bloomingdale’s, Garden of Eden stores, William Poll, Eli’s, and at Gristede’s and Food Emporium supermarkets. On Long Island and in New Jersey, you can find it at Fortunoff. Also in New Jersey, the King’s supermarkets carry it.

You can also order it by mail. Call: (866) 436-9994

These prices are approximate, because each store marks it up different, but figure $8 to $10 for a one-pound loaf, $15 to $20 for two-pounder, and $24 for a three-pound cake.

My friend James Carozza, The Cake Chef, on Staten Island, also bakes an exceptional stollen, and sells it at an exceptionally good price. You can buy it at his shop at 957 Jewett Ave. on Staten Island, or call (718) 448-1290. A huge stollen is $8.99. I don’t know how much it weighs, but it’s enough to nibble on for days, perhaps even all 12 days of Christmas.