Christmas Stollen is Here to Stay

Ah, my most favorite time of year is finally here! The chill in the air warms my heart, as it calls for a wonderful holiday full of hot toddies and snuggles, along with a mug of hot cocoa and Christmas stollen. Yes, stollen. Highly regarded as the “Christmas Cake of Germany,” stollen has staying power.

Stollen can be described as a bread version of fruitcake — but so much better than fruitcake! (For a few, the idea of fruit cake under the tree is like finding coal in your stocking.)

Trust me, at Fendu Boulangerie and Cake Works you’ll come across true stollen enthusiasts in their element, baking the perfect sweet bread — moist, rich and adorned with bits of dried fruit, nuts and sprinkled with sugary cheer. Christmas stollen will steal your heart, and it’s one more reason to be excited for the holidays!

Fendu Boulangerie

There’s no second guessing Fendu Boulangerie. Next March, the Manoa Marketplace bakery will embark on its sixth year in business, and owner and chef Niel Koep is more dedicated than ever to presenting customers with the finest in homemade bread, pastries and more — all baked fresh daily.

‘Tis the season for Fendu Stollen Bread ($25 regular, $15 petite), a modern version of a traditional Christmas bread.

“It holds the flavor of the classic German stollen, but the bread is lighter, not as dense, which pertains to more of a French style,” explains Koep. “It’s a nice hybrid of the two (cultures).”

Wheat flour, whole milk, yeast salt almond paste, eggs, butter vanilla, almonds, pecans, walnuts, candied orange and lemon, raisin and lemon zest solidify the bread. Once baked, it’s dusted with sugar. The taste is superior; you’ll notice lots of sweet and a bit of tart. And if you want to talk numbers, last year Fendu sold 724 loaves, all in a matter of about four weeks. That surely says something!

So, take a bite into merriment at Fendu Boulangerie, where Christmas stollen is a steal.

Fendu Boulangerie
Manoa Marketplace
2752 Woodlawn Drive
988-4310

Cake Works

Abigail Langlas, chef and owner of Cake Works, has the “it” factor. A genius in the world of sophisticatedly elaborate cakes, cupcakes, macarons and more, Langlas has what it takes to sweeten up the season. She attended L’ecole de Cuisine Francaise de Sabine de Mirbeck, and Westminster College, a selective training program for working pastry chefs. As a confectionary artist, she has carved a niche for herself, and Langlas’ custom-made cakes have garnered quite a following.

I recently caught up with Langlas, who was happy to share her interpretation of Christmas stollen, available now through mid-January. Priced at $17.50 for a 10-ounce loaf and $29.95 for 20 ounces, stollen is made with sweet yeast dough mixed with rum-soaked candied fruits, raisins and almonds, as well as candied citrus peel and currant.

Cake Work’s Christmas Stollen ($17.50 for a 10-ounce loaf, $29.95 for 20 ounces)

“We soak the fruit in rum for a year. Don’t worry, the alcohol dissipates,” says Langlas, adding that she does include a marzipan rope in the center of the loaf. Nuances of cinnamon and nutmeg also are apparent.

As soon as the bread comes out of the oven, it’s slathered with butter and rolled in powdered sugar.

“Because of the butter and the rum, the result is a much moister product,” she explains.

Why the growing popularity of Christmas stollen in the Islands? Langlas links it to the increase of Swiss/German pastry chefs at local hotels and dining establishments.

“It’s nice to be able to feature stollen this time of year, and I’m glad more and more people are becoming familiar with it.”

Cake Works
2820 S. King St.
946-4333