a taste of tradition

Christmas is a holiday full of traditions and memories, and I hope everyone has a handful of new ones from this year. As promised, I am going to share the process of our annual family baking tradition. My great grandmother used to bake German Stollen bread every Christmas morning when my grandma was young, and the tradition has been passed down from there. I started helping my grandma make the Stollen (and decipher the old, handwritten recipe) a few years ago, and this year was extra special because I actually understood the process and why it takes so long to complete. Even though we did things a little different than I might of learned in class, the Stollen was absolutely delicious and gobbled down yesterday morning.

Before we begin, it's important to note that we use a potato sponge for the bread instead of a basic flour, water and yeast mixture. You can't really taste the potatoes in the bread, but I'm sure it adds a little something extra to the final product. Here is the sponge being made on the night of December 23 before it was fermented overnight.

Before I left for the evening, a brief moment of panic set in when I asked my grandma if she had everything to complete the bread the next day. She said yes, however, after a short second exclaimed, "I don't have any raisins!" Since we don't put anything except raisins in the bread, this is a rather important ingredient. Luckily, we were able to make a run to the grocery store and save Christmas. Lesson learned: make your list and check it twice, just like Santa Claus.

The next morning, I returned to grandma's house to get the dough all mixed up. I should have brought my new Kitchen Aid 6-qt mixer along with me, but it wouldn't be Christmas if the dough didn't run up the beaters of grandma's trusty small mixer.

Another interesting item here is that we always have to add an undisclosed amount of flour to the dough to make it workable and not runny. Which leads to that small bowl getting fuller by the flour scoop. Once the dough started looking good, we emptied it out on to a floured cloth and the eight minutes of kneading began. Last year I thought this was hard work, but it felt like clockwork to me after my bread baking in class last term.

Once my grandma was satisfied with the kneaded bread, we covered it to let it rise into one huge loaf.

After two hours, it was time to separate the gigantic loaf into three separate loaves and let them rise again. Here are the two smaller loaves getting ready for a proofing by the heat vents.

Another few hours and it's time for the oven. These babies came out nice and brown and were slathered with butter...

and powdered sugar.

The whole process took about 24 hours and then the bread was covered until Christmas morning. And all that's left to do at that point is pray that the bread is done inside and tastes as good as it looks. There's always a sigh of relief from my grandma's mouth when we first cut into the bread on Christmas and all looks well.

But the true test comes after my great uncle spreads a slice with butter and powered sugar and takes the first bite. Once it's been approved by him, it's time for the whole family to dig in and devour two of the loaves. This bread is seriously hard to quit eating. I had at least 5 pieces.

That's just one of the perks of being a baker. You have to try your work and make sure it's up to par. And then try it again just in case. My grandma taught me that.

Another Christmas, another Stollen. Here's to another year of delicious and tasty traditions!