Christmas and the Dresden-type Christmas cake a combination of both festivity and tradition

The history of the Dresden-type Christmas cake can be traced way back to the year 1400, when the cake was given the German name of Striezel, which was meant to symbolize the Infant Jesus wrapped in nappies. This traditional piece of cake gave its name also to the city´s Striezel Market, which was mentioned in the Town Chronicle in 1474 for the first time. According to the prevailing church doctrine at that time, the Dresden-type Christmas cake was to be made only from flour, yeast and water. However, as the cake turned out to taste rather plain without butter and milk, the Elector Ernst of Saxony and his brother Albrecht approached the Pope and asked him to raise the ban on butter. The Holy Father let himself be persuaded and decreed in a statement, which has gone down in the annals as the "butter letter", that both butter and milk may also be used for the Christmas cake "with an easy conscience and the blessing of God" in consideration of a fine.

The master bakers have improved the Dresden Christmas cake ever since that time. Naturally, the royal court of Saxony did not want to miss savoring the delights of this delicious cake, either. From 1560 onwards, the Dresden bakers therefore presented their sovereigns with a Christmas cake weighing 36 pounds for the holy feast each year. It took the power of eight masters and eight further hands to carry the cake to the castle. Some 200 years later, Elector August the Strong broke every record of the past. On the occasion of the Zeithain festivities, he had the Dresden Bakers Guild bake a giant Christmas cake for the 24 000 guests attending the festivity. The cake weighed 1.8 tons. The Christmas cake festival which takes place every year in Dresden commemorates this event.

The Dresden-type Christmas cake has reached its current quality only during the last century as a result of the rising prosperity, which made it possible to also process high-grade and top-quality raw materials. Mailing the cake to places all over the world began soon thereafter and has thus helped to fulfill many a special Christmas wish. It is a unique way of sending greetings from Dresden and the surrounding area.

Although there is a basic recipe for the production of the original Dresden-type Christmas cake, each master baker or confectioner keeps his family secret which he has inherited from his forefathers. But one thing is the same in each bakery: excellent professional craftsmanship, exquisite ingredients from far-away countries and mysterious spices are combined with each other and help creating a unique and festive piece of confectionery.