This baker wins the trophy for the tastiest Christmas stollen in the Netherlands (again!)
Whether you love Christmas or not, a slice of fresh (warm!) Christmas stollen with butter really is irresistible, right? But where should you go for a truly delicious Christmas stollen? To Sleen in Drenthe! Today, Herman Schepers, De Echte Bakker from Sleen, successfully defended his title and became the best Christmas stollen baker in the Netherlands for the third year in a row (!).
This became clear after the national Christmas stollen judging organized by the Echte Bakkersgilde. So the prizes keep raining down in Sleen, where the title of Dutch Bread Baking Champion was also won in November. Just like last year, second place goes to Paul Timmer from Gasselte. For Echte Bakker Van Meijel from Clinge, the saying ‘perseverance pays off’ certainly applies. After reaching the finals with his Christmas stollen five times, he has finally made it onto the podium, taking third place.
‘Good in terms of flavor’
For the preliminary round, 71 bakers submitted a total of 121 stollen. At the shops of the 16 finalists, a Christmas stollen was purchased anonymously and without prior notice. The jury is full of praise for the Christmas stollen: “The quality of this year’s entries is very good, which is why we also have a higher number of finalists. The bakers score well on eating qualities and the stollen are good in terms of flavor. The scores were close together in the top 3, which demonstrates a lovely improvement in quality among the Echte Bakkers.”
A hint of orange
We speak to Roy Schepers about his first place; “We had already hoped you would call us again,” he admits. The jury explains the high score, an 8.5!: “This is a stollen made with a good recipe. This stollen contains a hint of orange. If you wonder, ‘What exactly is that delicious flavor I’m tasting here?’, then you know you’ve done something right.” Paul Timmer is also pleased with his second place: “Coming second again is fantastic, but I’ll keep persevering and hoping that one day I can knock the competition off the throne,” he says.
First time in Clinge
The fact that we have Joop van Meijel from Clinge on the line is special: he is an Echte Bakker who often reaches the finals but does not often win prizes. “I’m celebrating the party on my own, because everyone has already gone home, but of course I’ll share it.” The jury was unanimous in its appreciation of his perseverance.
Even more delicious Christmas stollen
Of course, the other finalists also have top-quality Christmas stollen in their shops. They are the Echte Bakkers Ad Bos from Ochten, Akershoek from Ouddorp, Bergerslag from Staphorst, Ed van Dommelen from Maarssenbroek, Eerkens from Musselkanaal, Gommans from Sevenum, Jenny van der Putten from Mierlo, Sjaak Doeleman from Werkhoven, Snijders from Stramproy, Theo Pastoor from Tilburg, van der Steen from Made, van der Woerd from Zeist and van Walderveen from Geldermalsen.
And would you like to buy a sourdough Christmas stollen? Then we recommend this Christmas stollen in Amsterdam.
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