)| It is with some relief, as I look down at the untidy bundle that is my home-made Christmas stollen, that I remember the cake is meant to resemble the baby Jesus in swaddling clothes. There's nothing like the word 'swaddling' to give a cook a comforting amount of artistic licence. The cakes of Christmas, whether a diminutive mince pie or an overblown panettone, a heavyweight Christmas cake or a vast mince tart, always bring with them a certain jollity. (The sweet end of Christmas is nothing if not a festival of dried fruits and icing sugar.) A 10-minute sit-down with a cup of tea and a slice of sugar- and spice-laden cake can be positively restoring, even quietly licentious, amid the hubbub of yuletide. I have to say I love them all. Even Christmas cake, which I regret has fewer fans with each passing year. That said, I don't want much of any of them, more of a sliver really, but a fruit-soaked bit of baking is as much a part of this annual holly-bedecked lark as the tree or the presents or the big roast. Even more so, perhaps. Whether you decide to swaddle your raisins and peel in cake mixture, pastry crust or sweet yeasty dough, some sort of confection like this is a must. Stollen is as German as panettone is Italian. It's a heavyweight in comparison - especially those versions with a thick layer of marzipan in the middle - but is still lighter than our own offering. Invented in Dresden, and now the subject of an annual festival in its honour, this peel-studded cake has been around since the 15th century and was originally known as Striezel. As our classic Christmas cake with its layer of icing seems to get less popular, the rest of Europe's cakes are becoming part and parcel of British life. Even my corner shop sells panettone now. |