The Case of the Stolen Stollen October 24, 2014
Posted by nrhatch in Food & Drink, Humor, Word Play.trackback
My maternal grandfather loved puns, crosswords, and word play . . . like Toyota = Toy Auto.
He also loved Stollen Bread and received a loaf from my mother every Christmas for as long as he lived.
When I read Nancy Curteman’s post on Global Mysteries about The Isle of Guernsey, it struck me that the ingredients for a Guernsey Gache sounded like those for Stollen Bread.
I wondered whether the similarities stemmed from German occupation of Guernsey during World War II.
Could it be The Case of the Stolen Stollen?
There’s a mystery for Miss Marple!
Aah . . . that’s better!
ACK! I said the C-word and it’s not even half-past Halloween.
Puts fingers in ears and hums “LA~LA~LA~LA~LA” to drown out premature mention of the advent. 
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Spirit Lights The Way 
Lol! I love puns too, Nancy…this gave me a chuckle this morning. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed, Sue! Have a fabulous weekend.
You crack me up, Nancy. I love Miss Marple…fruit cake, not so much.
Miss Marple is cunning! I like Stollen better than traditional fruit cake ~> like Irish Soda Bread, it’s bread with a sprinkling of fruit rather than fruit encased in cake batter.
You will not be surprised to know that Stollen is a necessary part of “that” holiday in my neck of the woods. Interesting theory about the Guernsey cake….stranger things have happened.
Haha. That’s how I will refer to “that” holiday from now until after Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone.
hmmm….and we have gache in France. We all may be more connected than we like to think!
The world is a HUGE mixing bowl and melting pot.
ooooH! With stollen batter in it?
Yes!
I like wordplay and puns, too. I usually take a word and define it, give different examples of how it is used with a little history or changes in usage ‘spin’ on it. I was raised by a Mom who had a mother who came from Germany and made homemade stolen, kuchen and sauerbraten, too. This brought back memories of her kitchen’s heavenly aromas! Thanks for this today!
Glad it brought back happy memories with heavenly aromas!
Your post reminded me of a recently read book that I really liked, The Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society. It has nothing to do with stollen, stolen or not, but is a good read. Actually was the first epistolary novel I had ever read, and I was half way through before ii realized what it was. But back to stollen; how does it differ from fruit cake? They look pretty much the same to me. And I like fruit cake!
Love the name of that book!
The Stollen I’ve had is more like bread (studded with fruit) than cake. It’s dense and not as moist as fruitcake.
I love Stollen with the marzipan in a long roll through the middle! Guernsey Gâche is a special bread made with raisins, sultanas and mixed peel. It sounds similar to the brack we make in Ireland at this time of the year, we add mixed spice to the flour mixture. The Irish white soda bread with a handful of dried fruit, was known as railway cake – a little like the Irish railways in the 1960/70s – the stations were few and far between!
I’ve never had Stollen with marzipan in the middle. That sounds awesome. Mom made a coffee cake with almond paste in the center that I loved.
Love the explanation for “railway cake.” Thanks for sharing.
No more mentions of the C word! I walked into a department store yesterday and saw nothing but that of which we will not speak. It’s not even Halloween yet!
Yes. The Holiday that must not be named this early in the year! We also saw some interesting decorations at Crate & Barrel yesterday ~ pumpkins and ghosts next to turkeys next to well-adorned trees.
Who knew there was so much wisdom here? Love it!
Val x
Thanks, Val. Here’s to mixing bowls and melting pots!
I hear you…I see our supermarkets already have their decorations up…preparing the brain washing early this year!
I guess some people love the advent of advent in the middle of October. Don’t count me in that crowd.
Me too…I find it panic inducing.
Premature advent of the advent ruins yuletide for me. I’m tired of seeing signs of the C-Season and hearing all those over-played C-carols before the holidays arrive with sleigh bells jingling.
I just watched three Miss Marple programs in a row. Am I an addict or not?
Hi NC! She’s a delight ~ Agatha knew how to create characters.
Does the C-word involve calories?
The c-word = EXCESS of all sorts (shopping, hurrying, rushing, wrapping, decorating, eating, drinking, caroling).
Some people are just so good with double entendres and puns and plays on words! I think you’re quick in that area…My specialty is the infamous mixed metaphor.I sometimes hear them come out and just hope no one else notices how often I lapse! LOL! I love stollen but have never baked a loaf. I went to the link to see the recipe and look what else I saw on that page. I MUST make this! http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/turtle-bread/02a87ed3-d9ae-4488-8985-15ab094e1b97
Maybe you can make a loaf of Turtle Bread to celebrate Darwin’s next birthday . . . your granddaughters would love it! So cute!
I like it best when people are punny without striving to be punny. When it just happens, organically. Same thing with double entendres ~ those that sneak in “under cover” are the best!
I love Miss Marple! and bread (homemade especially) that Guernsey Gache that N Curteman mentions sounds heavenly!
If you want an EASY and yummy bread recipe ~ this beer bread is only 5 ingredients and comes together in a FLASH:
Yesterday at 11 am I decided I wanted fresh baked bread for lunch with homemade soup. I turned on the oven, mixed up the bread, WAITED for the oven to reach temp, baked the bread, and lunch was still ready by noon!
Thank you for this Nancy 🙂 will try it out this weekend.
Enjoy!