A review of a Stollen cake from Lidl

The first thing that strikes one is the size of the beast. It is really a big and heavy log that weighs down the shopping basket. You blush a little when you place it on the conveyor belt, hoping that people are busy thinking about the fast approaching Christmas, while you yourself, with one last agonizing effort, fumblingly and bashfully pour it onto the belt. The size also raises some quality concerns. Good products (and good people) are mostly found in the more modest size ranges (because real confectioners and God don't fritter the ingredients away). But here Lidl surprises.Their Stollen cake definitely holds up and can match up with its namesake from Aldi. Truth be told, I haven't held a blind tasting and my last Aldi Stollen was ingested a couple of decades ago, but I seem to remember that Aldi's was heavier and drier, while Lidl's is generously provided with a sticky mass that is supposed to be made of marzipan. My only cavil at the Lidl cake is, there's too much icing sprinkled on top of it and it spills all over the place. The idea behind that could be, that it is meant be noticed that a Stollen cake from Lidl was eaten here. To sum it up: This is a sizable and affordable cake that could sustain an Irish family through a long and cold winter. But a little disspiriting is, it's called a Stollen cake. Rather, it should be called a Christmas cake. For unter uns, what is a Danish Christmas without the proud Stollen cakes from Germany?