By Anne DesBrisay

“Nothing says holiday cheer like Stollen!” Eh?

Eh??

Well that’s my new cry anyway. This was to be a post on plum pudding, but when I got to the True Loaf Bread Company, from whom I had picked up a fantastic pud last year, lo and behold, they were gone. Sold out.

Humbug.

I was talked into Stollen. A few were on display on the True Loaf counter, all wrapped up for Christmas with a ribbon and a bow. But I bought it with a heavy heart. I’ve never much liked these German loaves: dense, dry, too sweet for bread, not sweet enough for cake, typically an anti-climax.

But it turned out to be completely not the case with this version. This one is hefty, to be sure, dense with dried fruit, candied peel, citrus zest, but this one has a heart. Rather than almonds in the mix, a Toonie-sized length of marzipan (almond meal and extract sweetened with honey, according to baker/co-owner Yael Matte) is shot through its centre. And that makes all the difference.

Hurry. Go. Now.

Cost: A loaf of Stollen is $17 and lasts a long time if you’re very disciplined about it. Or it can go in an afternoon.

True Loaf Bread Company, 573 Gladstone Ave., 613-680-4178.