I’ve never been a big fan of stollen, despite being part German. To me, it’s an unfortunate triangulation of Danish kringle (the TJ’s version isn’t very good, though), and Norwegian Yulekage. I wouldn’t kick stollen out of bed, but it better be a cold night.
As a small child, I got to smash whole cardamom for Yulekage, which I thought was the most exotic smell in the world…
@kaleokahu are you talking about the big Kringles from Wisconsin that TJs sometimes sell? They can be pretty good, but terribly sweet and perhaps not as good as fresh from a Danish bakery which can be hard to find. A good stollen is good - most of these pastries are excellent if they are well made with good ingredients. And they dont have to be stodgy or solid inside - the yeast versions I made - and bought at a swedish bakery in the past - were well risen, but moist and fragrant. Ive never been lucky enough to enjoy Yulekage, though.
Yes. These are soggy, too sweet, and are butter-deficient.
My Gold Standard for kringle is Larsen’s Bakery in Seattle. But they are $19.95 rather than $9.99.
Larsen’s kringle is in some local markets, and they do air shipments.
I grew up eating stollen at a German cultural club in Canada every Christmas. I wasn’t a fan of stollen or panettone until my 30s.
It wasn’t until I tried the version at Kreutzkamm in Munich in 2014 that I realized I really liked some stollens.
I like Kringle but it’s more in the family of almond croissant or an iced almond Danish, than in the family of Christmas bread like Stollen and most types of Panettone for me.
I like Kringle. I liked it the most out of Christmas pastries when I was a kid.
