The recipe for Dresden Stollen is, as it has to be, prone to the top-most secrecy and for generations it has been handed down within the family. (Thus) Every family and every baker swears to know the best recipe, reveals nothing and enjoys their Stollen.

We make our Stollen – and of course it is the best one – as follows:

3oz of yeast (84g); sugar; 1lbs 11oz of flour (750g); 7oz of butter (200g); 6oz of sugar (150g); salt; 9 fl oz of milk (0,25l/1 cup); 4oz of candied lemon peel (100g); 5oz of sultanas (150g); 5oz of currants (the rasin, not the berry...150g); 4oz of chopped almonds (100g); 9oz of finely ground almonds (250g); 9oz of powdered sugar (250g); bitter almond oil; rose water; 1 yolk; powdered sugar for sprinkling

Mix yeast with some sugar and tepid milk. Let rise for 15 minutes. In the meantime, combine flour, butter, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. When the yeast has risen, add it together with the milk, lemon peel, sultanas, currants and chopped almonds to the flour-butter-sugar mix. The result of this has to be heavily knead and subseqently let alone to rise in a warm place for 60 minutes.

Use this time to make the marzipan. Mix ground almonds and powdered sugar, stir in the almond oil and the rose water. Roll out the dough in a square and form the marzipan into a roll the length of the square. Put the Marzipan roll on the doughsquare so that it is divided 1:2. Turn down the smaller part over the marzipan: This makes for the typical stollen form.

Let sit and rise for another hour, then bake at 400°F (200°C) for 60 minutes. After 30 minutes brush with the yolk, when it is done immediately sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Honestly, Grandma's Gingerbread doesn't actually taste like ginger. Which is no surprise since there is none in it! The original recipe presents a noteworthyness: Written closely together, it reads „cut warm two eggs“, which brought generations of gingerbreadmakers to insanity. Please don't cut the eggs, and really do not do it warm. Just read a little more in columns...

The recipe:

Heat 1 lbs (500g) of sugar and 1 lbs (500g) of honey in a pot. Knead 2 lbs (1000g) of flour, 0.5 lbs (250g) of chopped almonds, 4 oz (100g) of candied lemon peel, 1 oz (20g) of ground cardamom, 1 oz (20g) of ground cloves, 0.5 oz (15g) of mace and the sugar-honey-clump. This makes for a cruel dough since it sticks and crumbles at the same time!

Now you add the baking agent – in form of 0.4 oz (10g) of volatile salt and 0.4 oz (10g) of potassium carbonate (potash). Knead the dough again and for the sticky climax add two eggs and a spoonful of lard.

Heat oven to 400°F (200°C) and grease two baking sheets throughly. Then bring the dough onto the baking sheets, which is a lot of work. A good idea is to have a bowl with tepid water at the ready to dunk your hands in from time to time.

Bake the sheets one after another – 15 minutes each. One after another because the gingerbread has to be cut while still warm – tradition wants it in rhombical shape.

As a finishing touch top the warm, cut gingerbread with icing: 9 oz (250g) of powdered sugar are needed per baking sheet. Add very little water to make a viscous fluid. It is a good idea to make a „white“ sheet and a „black“ sheet – by adding 5 oz (125g) of cocoa powder...