"stollen" news and stories

• Wedding guests in Pittsburgh are filling their plates with homemade, old-fashioned cookies baked by the mothers, aunts, grandmothers and in-laws.
• It's not Christmas in southeastern Alabama without the cake ladies stacking up a 15-layer chocolate cake.
• Danny Meyer, of Union Square Hospitality Group fame, is creating the "anti-chain chain" as he rolls out four new Shake Shacks in 2010.
• In Dresden, Germany, residents bake stollen, a richly sweet bread of dried fruit, ginger and almonds, to celebrate the holiday season.

Stollen may be traditionally made for Christmas, but Delicious Days' version, apart from its name, lacks any real ties to the season. The Quarkstollen gets its name from the inclusion of Quark, a curd cheese that is very similar to fromage frais. If you aren't familiar with either of these products, think of it as a very soft cream cheese. Nicky is also among those who do not like raisins, which are generally always included in stollen, and has substituted dried apricots in her recipe. As a fan of both dried apricots as well as raisins, I am quite tempted to try this both ways, since I am sure that you can use raisins if you prefer them.

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