For
The Love Of Bread
By SALLY CAPPON
South Coast Beacon
The Christmas stollen was filled with plump raisins, almonds and surprise
tastes of citrusy peel, topped with a thick dusting of powdered sugar.
For baker Dietmar Eilbacher, the holiday delicacy is reminiscent of boyhood
Christmases in Germany.
This month, Eilbacher will be turning out stollens as well as panettone,
edible Santa Claus figures and plenty of Christmas cookies at D’Angelo’s
Bread, 25 W. Gutierrez St.
“Christmas is the best time in the bakery,’’ said Eilbacher.
“You get all the spices – cardamon, ginger, allspice, vanilla.
It’s my favorite time of year. It brings back a lot of memories
of my childhood.
“What’s really popular right now is soft gingerbread,’’
he said. I will make some pfeffernuesse – a couple people have requested
it.’’
Butter cookies and shortbread were begun in mid-October. “Certain
cookies have to sit and age,’’ he explained.
While Eilbacher has been in Santa Barbara just a year, among people who
grew up in German communities, word has spread, yes, by word of mouth,
that this is the place to find beloved holiday foods.
With stollens the centerpiece of many Christmases, Eilbacher’s are
special in that they combine two parts of dried fruits, including dark
and golden raisins , candied orange and lemon peel plus whole almonds,
to just one part dough – “just enough to hold it together.
“It’s my favorite bread,’’ he said.
Each stollen is hand-shaped and brushed with clarified butter which seals
the moisture, and coated with sugars.
“All the special Christmas things I do myself,’’ he
said. “It’s almost like a ritual to me. I can’t imagine
any other way.’’
As a boy, “I grew up in a bakery,’’ he said. “My
parents had a small bakery. I was making bread when I was six years old.”
At 16, he served an apprenticeship in his parents’ bakery in northern
Bavaria. Later he served as a journeymen in bakeries in Munich. Shortly
after getting a master’s degree in 1990 in baking and pastry, he
came to the United States, opening a bakery and restaurant in Santa Monica.
For six years before coming to Santa Barbara, he was a bakery instructor
at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, and the Napa Valley.
Coming to D’Angelo’s and Santa Barbara “seemed like
a good challenge,’’ said Eilbacher, who throughout the year
turns out unique breads including popular Rudolph Steiner and challah
on Fridays and Saturdays for Jewish customers. There are also éclairs
and tarts – pecan – caramel, wild blueberry crumble and sour
cherry crumble with streusel topping. “We make our own preserves,’’
he said. “Right now we have strawberry preserves and orange marmalade.
“We only buy raw ingredients,’’ he said. “Everything
is made from scratch. There are no pre-mixes. I don’t believe in
things in boxes. That’s what makes a small place unique.’’
With D’Angelo’s serving breakfast and lunch, a breakfast favorite,
poached eggs with unique breads, also bring back childhood memories. “I
love them,’’ said Eilbacher. One of four brothers, “When
I grew up, every Sunday morning was the only time we could all sit down
together. The whole family always had soft cooked eggs in shells.’’
This week brings another childhood holiday tradition – St. Nicholas
Day. “It was a big day,’’ he said. “The night
of Dec. 5, you’d take your boots and put them outside the front
door. If you were not so nice, you’d get coal.’’
Good children found their boots filled with candy and a small baked Santa
Claus similar to what he makes today at D’Angelo’s.
“It’s a light brioche dough, the same dough as cinnamon buns,’’
he said. He makes the Santa figures in two sizes, both hand-shaped without
molds. Small Santas are the size children found in boots. Youngsters might
get the larger Santas from uncles and aunts on Dec. 6, St Nicholas Day.
There’ll be a St. Nicholas celebration for his own children, ages
two to seven.
“We mix American and German traditions,’’ he said.
Lucky thing for Santa Barbarans.
Please e-mail your favorite recipes or column suggestions to Sally at
scappon@scbeacon.com