History of Baking & Stollen

Many traditional Christmas treats have histories that date back centuries and many of them originated in Germany. For example, Stollen originated in the 1400s, first as a medieval fasting food made only of flour, yeast and water. Prince Elector Ernst of Saxony, and his brother Albrecht, asked Pope Innocent VIII to revoke the ban on butter in fasting foods. Their wish was granted in 1491 and bakers of Stollen were allowed to use richer ingredients. The renowned Striezelmarkt in Dresden, Germany has been selling Stollen at Christmastime since the 1500s.

Today, Stollen includes milk, sugar, butter, salt, rum, eggs, vanilla, candied citrus peel and dried fruit, raisins, almonds, nuts and spices such as cardamom and cinnamon – and some recipes include Marzipan, made from ground almonds and sugar.

Want to know more about the history and traditions of the Christmas foods you love? Ask your local library to borrow:

Christmas Food and Feasting: A History, written by Madeline Shanahan, published by Rowman and Littlefield in 2019.

Word of the Day

Plaetzchen Backen

Baking cookies

Meet SevenCastles

Today's Concert features their performance at Christkindl Market in 2019

SevenCastles are an innovative dance band with direct roots and influences from Transylvania, Austria, Germany, and the Region of Waterloo. Their styles of Dance Musik come from all over Europe, and America’s The Band features Robert Kauntz, Michael Schatz, Tyler Rich and Ron Schatz. Put the four of them together and you get a minimum of 100 years of professional experience.

These guys all sing and are able to play more than one instrument, giving them the ability to interchange with each other keeping the sound fresh and exciting.

Check out the SevenCastles Facebook page for more information.

Baking with Mrs. Claus!

Free virtual event!

Saturday, December 12, 2020, 10 am - 11 am

Join our very special guest, Mrs. Claus for a special edition of Kids in the Kitchen with Chef Nicole! Watch live on the City of Kitchener Facebook page as Mrs. Claus and Chef Nicole show you how to make the perfect sugar cookies, ready for decorating. Mrs. Claus will also be sharing some of her favourite holiday stories. Keep those tasty holiday traditions alive with the Christkindl and Kitchener Markets! And don’t forget to show us how they turn out! Post to social media using the hashtag #ChristkindlCA and #KitchenerMarket.

For more information about this free online event, visit the Kitchener Market's website.