Christmas Stollen, Happiness Found

Stollen fruit and nut bread by Hot Bread Kitchen 

I never expected, back in December 2014, to discover something new at the breakfast table, but there it was on Christmas morning: a short, lumpy loaf, swaddled like the baby Jesus himself in a thick blanket of powdered sugar—the very picture of old-fashioned holiday gatherings. Nevertheless, the calzone-size stollen remained untouched throughout the entire meal, overshadowed by a heavily frosted bûche de Noël decorated with meringue fungi, a plastic Santa-driven sled, plastic Season's Greetings and an equally plastic spear of holly.

It wasn't until later in the evening, propelled by boredom, that I gravitated toward the stollen, knife and plate in hand. Slicing through the powdered sugar wasn't as messy as I thought it would be. Back to the living room I went, to enjoy my sliver of stollen and coffee (brewed earlier but still hot), on the couch, in front of the glowing monolith that is my parents' television. 

Somewhat like panettone but denser, the bread-cake hybrid had me at guten tag. The cool feeling of powdered sugar on your tongue, mixed with the heavy bread, marzipan, dried fruit and spices, makes you feel all bundled up inside, and wrapped and warm and ready for winter. 

I had to learn more. 

Legend has it—a most appetizing phrase—that stollen goes back to the 14th century in Germany, where the existence of stollen was recorded for the first time in 1474 on a bill at a Christian hospital.

By most historical accounts, the Middle Ages was a tough time for man and bread alike. When I think of 14th century Europe I think of brown-cowled monks and giant cauldrons like in The Name of the Rose—the Umberto Eco novel turned Sean Connery movie that takes place in 14th century Italy. Of course, nothing records the general human condition of a specific time and place more tellingly than art. With that in mind, here is one of the most famous sculptures from Germany, circa 1325:

The Roettgen Pieta, Early 14th Century, Reinesches Landesmuseum, Bonn, Germany

As you can see from its heavy emphasis on emotional anguish and physical pain, this 3-foot Gothic statue does not suggest an era that would bring us the Cronut. In addition to the plague, Europeans of that century had also endured dismally bland stollen made solely of flour, yeast and water.

It took an official letter from the Pope, more than a hundred years later, known as The Butter Missive, to loosen the rules of Advent and bring butter to stollen. And you can bet your sweet marzipan that butter made stollen better.

Today, stollen, aka Weihnachtsstollen, aka Christstollen, is gaining in popularity far beyond the borders of Dresden, the city that lays claim to the original stollen and most-prized version, and where an annual stollen festival is held at the Dresden Striezelmarket—the oldest Christmas market in Germany. Dresden of course takes its stollen very seriously.  Authentic Dresden Stollen can only be found in Dresden, baked by any one of 150 official Dresden stollen bakers.

For those who have never tried stollen, if you're looking for ways to relax and enjoy the cold winter, I recommend stollen with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate. The power of a good stollen is its ability to take the harshness out of winter, transforming snow-covered rooftops and driveways into powdered-sugar landscapes. And, like its legacy, stollen itself is long-lasting. Buy it in October, keep it refrigerated, and it'll stay edible at least until March. 

Cinnamon Buns and Silence

A Swedish cinnamon bun and coffee, in solemn silence swallowed.

The Swedish Seaman's Church, or Svenska Kyrkan, is located on 5th Ave. and 48th St. While its neo-gothic facade doesn't exactly scream Eat Here, the Swedish Seaman's Church has received a fair amount of local notoriety for its homemade cinnamon buns. After being buzzed in, I entered the building wondering what I was getting into.

Once inside, I walked through an open doorway on the right, into a silent, carpeted lounge with shelves of books and Swedish dailies and school-library style tables and chairs. Could this be the right place? A small kitchen area in the back indicated that it was.

Glancing over at the short wall of books, I spotted a hardcover copy of The Odyssey and secretively winced. It reminded me of my failed struggles in college with The Iliad which, as a squeamish 18-year-old, I found offensively war-crazed and completely irrelevant to the mores of the modern world of 1988 which to the best of my knowledge was steadily progressing toward world peace through the good works of Bob Geldof. Feeling a little bit the interloper in this quiet, cultural refuge for Swedes, I had to ask myself how much I wanted this cinnamon bun and whether I'd feel comfortable eating in this bibliothèquish environment. Comfortable enough, I decided, and walked toward the fluorescent-bulb-lit kitchen feeling deliciously close to an authentic Swedish pastry.

The kitchen area was small, with a counter and a refrigerator. To the side was a glass coffee pot with hot coffee. Clearly, this kitchen is not designed for the heavy traffic of the Venti latte crowd. What an adventure! In a quiet, intimate setting like this, you don't need the meditation skills of the Dalai Lama to be in the moment, because you simply are in the moment, because it's not a giant corporate machine that presses forward like an assembly line.

I ordered my cinnamon bun and coffee. The presentation is very cute: a rectangular plate with a circular indentation in the upper right corner for a matching cup (yes, it's the details that excite me). The cinnamon buns are made fresh daily, but I wasn't there at the right time to sample them fresh from the oven, so, while the woman behind the counter zapped a cinnamon bun in the microwave for about 10 seconds, I poured myself some coffee, adding milk from a carton in the fridge.

Flowers and flags at the Swedish Seaman's Church located on 48th and 5th.


Having paid for my coffee and a freshly nuked cinnamon bun, garnished with a complimentary Dumle Scandinavian toffee candy (not something one always gets) I searched the fairly empty seating area for a place to sit.

And now for the taste. The coffee–rich and satisfying. The cinnamon bun–delicate and mild in flavor yet with a comforting, hearty texture. Awesome with coffee.  Clearly European in that it's not about the sugar, it's about the dough: soft, slightly chewy and mildly sweet. Definitely a far cry from Cinnabon, as pointed out by a very dissatisfied little girl sitting nearby with her mother. I've never had a Cinnabon but I don't doubt she's right about the contrast. On the one hand you have the Swedish cinnamon buns which taste like they were baked by kind nuns, on the other,  Cinnabons, created by brilliantly manipulative food scientists. Maybe it's an adult thing (can't believe I just called myself that), but I prefer the the Swedish version; they're probably a lot healthier, too. Who needs loads of high-fructose sweetener when you have sugar that looks like pretzel salt sprinkled on top? I don't, that's for sure.

Italian Hot Chocolate

Cioccolata con panna at Eataly


The most exhilarating three words on Earth may still be I love you, but Italian hot chocolate is a very close second. If you've never had it, then wish for it, aspire to it, dream about it, and by all means plan a trip to wherever it is you have to go to find it.

What makes Italian hot chocolate so good is its thickness and flavor. There are other deliciously thick hot chocolates around the city but they don't share the bold taste of chocolate pudding that Italian hot chocolate has. Plus, the longer you let it sit, the thicker it gets. La dolce vita indeed.

My favorite is the cioccolata con panna at Eataly—a tourist hellhole if ever there was one, but sometimes you have to walk through hell to get to heaven. Not sure if that's a paraphrase of the Bible or The Steve Miller Band, but the point is, once you have that Lavazza V-shaped cup of molten chocolate in front of you, it doesn't matter what tortures you've endured or crimes you've committed, salvation is only a sip away.

Left sitting for 3-4 minutes, a slightly thicker cioccolata con panna.


For hot chocolate so thick you literally have to remove the sippy lid and use a spoon when it cools, there's Amorino on University Place. This hot chocolate is hea-vy. There are many flavors to choose from, including Coconut. So far I've tried Dark Chocolate and White Chocolate. Both are spectacular.

Dark hot chocolate with whipped cream at Amorino

Same as above with whipped cream added. (How GOOD does that look!)

Of Mice and Penguins

Too Damn Cute: White-chocolate covered mice from L.A. Burdick, NYC



Let me tell you, ordering a chocolate mouse is very different than ordering a chocolate mousse. For one thing, you have to open your mouth a lot wider when you speak, it can't be mumbled. I'll bet there are some people who would never even bring themselves to place such an order, they'd feel too silly. Clearly, I am not such a person. And if you do go to L.A. Burdick on 20th Street between Fifth Ave and Park and ask for an espresso and chocolate mouse, here's what you'll get:

Speedy Gonzalez?: Espresso and mouse (also available in dark chocolate and milk chocolate)


Along with tiny mousse-filled meese with long stringy tails, Burdick offers European-inspired tarts, pastries, cakes, coffee drinks, tea and a heady variety of drinking chocolate. I've yet to sample their pastries but I assume they're good. Here's why:

One day while sitting at a corner bench, a lovely french family—parents and their adult son—sat at a table very close to mine. The son placed their order and returned to the table and sat down with his parents. They talked quietly, languidly, the father doing most of the talking while the mother focussed on closing the clasp on her bracelet, which her son, noticing her struggle, ever so gallantly closed for her. (Could you be any more charming?) I didn't see exactly what pastries they were having but heard the mother remark, "C'est bon ça, mon Dieu!"

If that isn't a golden seal of approval, I don't know what is. Who, afterall, knows pastries better than the French? Some might know pastries as well as the French, but no one knows pastries better than the French. And that's that.


Here are some exciting highlights from this extraordinary little chocolate shop.

As previously mentioned... PENGUINS!

Snowmen! (non-abominable)

Their Signature Valentine's Day Assortment... GORGEOUS!!!

And how many chocolatiers honor the birthday of Scottish Poet Robert Burns? Made with real scotch (the good kind), this manly assortment has plenty of burn of its own. (FYI, I'm speaking out of enthusiasm for the concept, I haven't actually tried these.)

Haggis Not Included: Limited edition Scotch Whisky Truffles in honor of Scottish poet Robert Burns.

What's in a Macaron?

BUILD-A-BOX of macarons from Dana's Bakery Photo: Katherine D. Lee

People who've had near-death experiences often describe visions of a bright white light, a phenomenon dismissed by scientists as a surge of chemicals in the dying brain. But maybe these visions aren't hallucinations. Maybe, at the threshold of death lies a sneak peek of heaven, and the gateway to heaven is composed of steep cliffs and billowy clouds of fluffy white meringue. A glimpse of a world that pristine and magnificent would certainly be blinding to mere mortals.

To that point, there's something about a macaron that really is a piece of heaven. Meringue is a key component of the macaron—mixed with almond flour to create a light and airy confection with a cream filling.

A top-tier macaron is a dance of blessed spirits. I can't tell you how many times a large macaron from Bouchon Bakery on my lunch break has transformed a stern cup of coffee into an MGM musical. Just one bite and you are Singin' In the Rain!

Strangely enough, NYC is teeming with macaron shops. A condition that I like to refer to as a Marie Antoinette economy. Goodbye delis, fishmongers, pizza places and all those other basic food stores and bread shops pushed out by surging rents. Let us eat $4 cupcakes! Let us eat gelato! Imported loose candy! And Macarons, puh-lenty of macarons! For some reason, they're the only stores that can afford to be here!


Now there are macarons and there are macarons. Dana's Bakery macarons are definitely the latter. These are fun, informal macarons, with entertaining flavors inspired by childhood favorites: Orange Creamsicle, Pink Lemonade, Candy Cane, Red Velvet and Gingerbread. The list goes on. I don't know how Dana does it, but the Orange Creamsicle macaron tastes like orange creamsicles; the Fruity Pebbles macaron tastes like Fruity Pebbles; and the Birthday Cake macaron tastes so much like birthday cake, you can almost taste the stray drops of candle wax. The Red Velvet macaron deftly mimics Red Velvet cake, I only wish the filling tasted more like cream cheese. (File that under First World Problems for sure.)

Dana's Bakery is mainly available online but fresh Dana's Bakery macarons can also be found around the city at various locations of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Freshness is key. Ain't nothin' good about a stale macaron.

Even when I'm not actually buying anything, I like visiting the DB Website just to browse through all the clever and amazing new flavors available. There's always something specially made for the season. This month's highlight is... well... let's put it this way, if I know who's playing the Super Bowl this year, it is not because I know anything about football:

Denver Chocolate Peanut Butter vs Seattle Seasalt Caramel
Photo from Dana's Bakery website.

Popcorn Love

Click here for "Popcorn Love" by New Edition.

Growing up, one of my favorite objects in the kitchen was a big yellow bowl that my mother used mainly for one of two things: mixing cake batter or serving popcorn. So whenever that bowl came down from the cabinet it was as if a party switch were turned on in my head. No microwave popcorn, nor Jiffy Pop, could compare to the taste of fresh popcorn and melted butter that filled that bowl.

Now, I don't know how old you think popcorn is but it goes back way before the Pilgrims and Indians. The earliest evidence of popcorn, according to History.com, has recently been traced to more than 6,000 years ago in Peru. (It's remarkable how researchers are capable of tracking this, I can't help picturing trails of extremely stale popcorn leading to ancient concession stands carved in stone.)

Of course, popcorn is intimately connected to American history. The first commercial popcorn machine was invented in the late 1800s, in Chicago, by Charles Cretors. Colonial families sometimes ate popcorn with sugar and cream for breakfast (I've tried this, it tastes a lot like Kellogg's Corn Pops but with a high-risk of choking to death.) And the popcorn business thrived during The Great Depression.


A Street Cart Named Delicious: Lithograph of a 1907 peanut & popcorn wagon, invented by C. Cretors & Company. Photo from Wikipedia.

It's comforting to know that even though the world is constantly changing, our love for popcorn endures. I'm seeing a lot of new brands and flavors of popcorn in food stores and I myself am eating a lot more popcorn these days. Who knows why. It's fun. It's filling. And it's also a natural source of fiber. (It's also gluten free!)



Good To The Last Kernel: American Farmer Kettle Popped Corn

It's becoming more and more evident that the choices we make as consumers define the world in which we live. American Farmer popcorn is one of those brands that isn't just selling you popcorn but a vision of the future. One percent of popcorn profits goes to its mission, supporting American Farmland Trust. But can you judge the taste of popcorn on the goodness of a mission and creative packaging? No, which is why food blogs come in handy. Having tried American Farmer Kettle Popped Corn firsthand, I can tell you that this is primo kettle corn. It has an eloquent veneer of sweetness and a hearty crunch. I'm also a fan of the short list of natural ingredients: Popcorn, Cane Sugar, Sunflower Oil, Salt.



In Popcorn We Trust: American Farmer Popcorn


If you like the intensely buttery taste of movie theater popcorn, you'll love All Natural Old School Movie Theater Popped Corn, also by American Farmer. The name says it all, as does the image of Abe Lincoln wearing 3D glasses. This popcorn does a pretty good job of conjuring up the essence of what you buy at the movies. But unlike those billowing buckets of brilliant yellow, which have the caloric stuff of Big Macs, this popcorn is all natural: no GMOs and MSG, just kernels, sunflower oil, salt and natural flavor. As for the term "natural flavor," I don't know exactly what ingredients constitute "natural flavor" but I do know that every time I eat a handful of this popcorn I feel the impulse to scan a dimly lit room for empty seats.

On a side note, I don't always get popcorn at the movies but once in a while you have to give in to your inner 9-year-old. If you like popcorn and candy, try mixing them together. Per a friend's suggestion the other week at The Great Gatsby, I mixed popcorn and Mike & Ike's and I luh-hoved it!


The Great Mixby: Movie popcorn sprinkled with candy


And now for the grand finale. Let me preface this by reiterating, nothing beats freshly popped corn you make yourself at home. It's so easy to do, too. I usually use olive oil or canola oil. (Just be careful not to turn the heat up too high when using olive oil, which burns at a lower temperature than canola oil.) Post-popping I've tried sprinkling Parmesan cheese on top but I'm not crazy about it. I've also tried adding rosemary and thyme to the heated oil. The goal is to simulate the taste of baked chicken. Or at least that's my goal but I've never come close to achieving it. Perhaps someone like Jean Arnold could.

Jean Arnold, as I have discovered from reading the back of this small, stay-fresh pouch (think cat treats for humans), is founder of 479° Popcorn. Arnold is more than a founder, she's a culinary colonel of kernels. Case in point, the name she came up with for her popcorn, 479°, comes from what she has discovered to be the precise temperature for perfect popping. That's pretty impressive. Overall, I'd say that Arnold has done for popcorn what Yves Saint Laurent did for the trouser suit. She's transformed it into something dramatically sophisticated and refined. Good luck being refined while eating it, however, especially if you like truffles. 479° Black Truffle + White Cheddar popcorn is incredibly savory and delicious. Seriously, what popcorn have you tried lately that has a beginning taste, mid-palate taste and finish? This popcorn is charged with aromatic truffle oil and aged white-cheddar flavor. It's outstanding. I only wish there was a cream soup version.

Next, I tried 479° Sea Salt Caramel. Caramel popcorn this good doesn't need a prize, it is the prize. Think salted caramel on the verge of rich toffee. Of course, it's made with natural, organic ingredients, so it's a healthy indulgence—an oxymoron if I ever heard one.


479° Popcorn: Sea Salt Caramel, Black Truffle + White Cheddar*


*Goes well with martinis.

Mini Crystal Head Vodka

Canadian skulduggery: 50ml Crystal Head vodka


As I walked past Manley's Wines & Spirits in the West Village, this little guy pictured above stopped me dead in my tracks. Seized by its beauty, I darted into the shop, exuberant and loving the day, eternally grateful for the West Village and its small shops, and giddy with the excitement of Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom, and symbol of art, music and poetry—for surely, this shrunken crystal head was nothing short of a work of art.

Me: "Do you sell mini bottles of Crystal Head?"

Attractive Wine Guy: "We do."

Me: "How much are they?"

Attractive Wine Guy: "11.99, but wait 'til you see how it's constructed..."

He then showed me an elegant box full of crystal-clear skull heads, beautifully sculpted and detailed, each neatly nestled in its own private little compartment.

Other Cute Wine Guy: "What makes it great is 1) It's a skull; 2) It's a skull, and 3)—"

Attractive Wine Guy: "It's vodka. How many would you like?"

Me: "Just one, for now, I guess."

Asked if I wanted a bag, I declined, choosing instead to put my diminutive skull, my crystal Yorick, directly into my purse.


Manley's Wines & Spirits, 35 Eight Avenue, NYC


As for what Crystal Head vodka tastes like, I have no idea; I've never tried it. I do know that the company is owned by Dan Aykroyd and that the vodka is Canadian (as is Dan Aykroyd). I also know that Canada is cold, like Finland, Russia, Poland and Holland, sort of, and France... That is to say, Canada, has a lot of arctic regions where vodka can potentially be tapped directly from pristine magic icebergs as they do in Finland, or so I imagine. Honestly, I'm not sure what I'm saying, or why I sound like I've already drunk the entire bottle, but I can't make any assumptions about the taste and quality of this lovely idea come to life, nor do I want to open it to find out. So I'll just have to wait until I find myself at a bar that carries Crystal Head.

Stay tuned...