YEW Restaurant’s stollen will convert nonbelievers to Christmas cake

Is it a stollen? Is it a fruitcake? Whatever it is, it’s fabulous.

When I was given YEW Restaurant + Bar’s stollen, I didn’t immediately recognize it as the traditional German Christmas bread. I make a stollen every year and I’m accustomed to big, oval-shaped yeast loaves that have a line of marzipan tucked down the middle--the bread’s treasure. I add almonds and raisins but omit the candied fruit because I dislike it—as does almost everyone I know except my mother (who, it must be said with love, also appreciates jellied salads).

YEW’s loaf is rectangular and compact, so I thought it was a fruitcake. And as you can probably guess, I’m not entirely keen on fruitcakes.

If you don’t think you like anything resembling a Christmas cake, unwrap the layers of butter-stained paper on this baby. Although it is a yeast loaf, according to the Four Seasons, I’d swear it was a cake. The dense crumb is as moist as moist can be. Generously studded with slivered almonds and raisins, the cake is so delicious that the layer of marzipan isn’t even the best part. The whole thing is fantastic, from the marzipan centre right on out to the sugar dusting. It makes a great afternoon pick-me-up with tea, or if you love European pastries for breakfast, you’ll eat it up first thing in the morning.

Former Four Seasons Hotel chef Gerhart Weitzel comes out of retirement every year to bake these stollen, which are sold at YEW Restaurant. His secret recipe is decades-old, given to him when he was a young pastry chef by another at the end of his career.

Weitzel baked 2,500 stollen this year, and you can buy them at the restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel Vancouver until they sell out. Each 450-gram stollen is $20. Pricey, yes, but worth its weight in butter.

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