GERMANY-GIANT CHRISTMAS STOLLEN Giant Christmas cake is centrepiece of Dresden's seasonal fare

Record ID: 565687

  • Title: GERMANY-GIANT CHRISTMAS STOLLEN Giant Christmas cake is centrepiece of Dresden's seasonal fare
  • Date: 6th December 2014
  • Summary: DRESDEN, GERMANY (DECEMBER 6, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ENTRANCE TO 'STRIEZELMARKT' - TRADITIONAL CHRISTMAS MARKET IN DRESDEN PEOPLE MILLING ABOUT CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ON GIANT CHRISTMAS PYRAMID PEOPLE MILLING ABOUT BAKER AND PAN TO GIANT STOLLEN ON CARRIAGE BAKER WITH GIANT KNIFE FOR FIRST CUT BAKER MILLING FIRST CUT AND BAKER PRESENTING PIECE OF GIANT STOLLEN CLOSE PIECE OF GIANT STOLLEN BAKER AND CHRISTMAS MARKET OFFICIALS PRESENTING PIECE OF GIANT STOLLEN MORE BAKER CUTTING STOLLEN, HANDING DOWN PIECE THAT IS PUT INTO BAG AND GIVEN TO PUBLIC BAKER CUTTING STOLLEN BOY IN BAKER-OUTFIT PRETENDING TO EAT STOLLEN MORE BAKER CUTTING STOLLEN (SOUNDBITE) (German) MAX LEHMANN, BOY IN BAKER OUTFIT, SAYING: BEING ASKED: YUMMY ISN'T IT? "Yes, yummy!" QUESTION: AND WHAT IS IT THAT IS SO YUMMY? "The Stollen, of course!" (SOUNDBITE) (German) CO-INITIATOR OF THE STOLLEN FESTIVAL HENRY MUELLER, SAYING: "Yes, we do eat Stollen from Dresden. But we do need a bit of quiet and calm for it. I didn't find time so far. At least at home. Maybe tomorrow for the 2nd advent, the tension of the Stollen Festival is gone, and we will have the time for the ritual of the first cut of the Stollen with out family." ONLOOKERS RECEIVING PIECE OF GIANT STOLLEN
  • Embargoed: 21st December 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVAB1CCMHA1UYI1QPHJ7Y3X14QLC
  • Story Text: Lucky visitors to Dresden's Christmas market on Saturday (November 6) enjoyed a giant piece of Stollen, the Christmas cake the city is famous for.
    Appropriately for St. Nicholas day, a giant version of the cake was displayed in the old city centre. Tens of thousands of people watched the 3 tonne Stollen cake being carried on a horse-drawn carriage. The monster cake coated in powdered sugar made its way to the "Striezelmarkt" Christmas fair for the annual "Stollenfest" (Stollen festival). On arrival at the Christmas market the cake was cut by the head baker with an oversized silver-plated "Stollen" knife, measuring 1.2 metres.
    Slices of this traditional Saxon cake then went on sale for a 'good cause' visitors were told.
    Sixty five bakers were busy for three and a half weeks stirring, tasting and baking the giant masterpiece. More than one tonne of flour, 750 kilogrammes of butter, 200 kilogrammes of sugar and 1.5 million sultanas and many litres of Jamaica Rum were used.
    And it seems it was worth every morsel of the hard work that went into its making. Little Max, himself a grandson of one of the bakers, loved the sweet. "Yes, yummy!" he said
    Slices of 500 grammes each were on sale at 5.00 euros each. Market visitors had to exchange money for a gold coin known as "Stollenthaler" to be able to purchase a slice.
    And after the hubbub of the Stollen Festival, the bakers themselves might also enjoy a piece of the famed Christmas cake: "Yes, we do eat Stollen from Dresden," said baker and co-initiator of the festival, Henry Mueller, who is a member of the 'Baker's guild Dresden'.
    "But we do need a bit of quiet and calm for it. I didn't find time so far. At least at home. Maybe tomorrow for the 2nd advent, the tension of the Stollen Festival is gone, and we will have the time for the ritual of the first cut of the Stollen with our family."
    Legend has it that the most famous of Dresden's cakes was baked for August the Strong - known at the time as the Saxon Hercules. The cake apparently weighed two tonnes and took 60 bakers to prepare. Horses transported it to the Elector's banquet, where it was sliced with a five-foot knife.
    The Dresden Christmas market, or "Striezelmarkt", held annually since 1434, is named after an old word for "Stollen", first mentioned in the early fourteenth century.
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