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The Zelten is a Christmas cake of Central European origin, popular throughout the Trentino Alto Adige region. It is usually prepared in advance and then enjoyed together on Christmas Day. The history of this cake is curious: in the past, each family made their own Weihnachtszelten, and from the richness of the ingredients and decorations, one could guess the level of wealth of the maker. A generous amount of dried fruit in the dough indicated a wealthy family, and vice versa. Although it is prepared less often at home today, every family in Alto Adige jealously preserves their own version, which often contains a “secret” ingredient.
Servings: 6 persone
Ingredients
For the dough
- 250 gr rye flour
- 250 gr wheat flour
- 40 gr honey
- 20 gr yeast
For the filling
- 400 gr dried figs
- 200 gr sultana raisins
- 50 gr candied cedar
- 50 gr candied orange
- 100 gr almonds
- 100 gr walnuts
- 50 gr pine nuts
- 1 orange
- 5 ml grappa
- 5 ml dark rum
- 5 ml cognac
- qb cinnamon and ginger powder
- qb black pepper
To finish
- qb candied cherries
- qb walnuts
- qb almonds
- 80 gr honey
Instructions
- Prepare the fruit by rinsing the figs and raisins first.
- Cut the figs into pieces, removing the stems.
- Grate the orange zest and squeeze the juice.
- In a bowl, combine the orange zest and juice, spirits, spices (a pinch of cinnamon, ginger, and black pepper) and enough water to fully cover the figs and raisins.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let macerate for 12 hours.
- Slice the almonds thinly and lightly toast in a non-stick pan with the pine nuts.
- Roughly chop the walnuts and set everything aside.
- Prepare the dough: mix the flours and knead them together with a little warm water in which you will have dissolved the yeast and honey.
- Work the dough, gradually adding enough warm water (about 350 ml) until obtaining a soft, fairly compact dough ball.
- Place in a bowl and let it rise for 3 hours covered with a damp cloth, in a warm, non-dry environment.
- After 3 hours, drain excess liquid from the fruit and add it to the dough with pine nuts, almonds, chopped walnuts, and candied fruit.
- Work until all added ingredients are well incorporated.
- Place the Zelten dough in a well-buttered baking pan (28 cm diameter), brush with honey diluted with water and let rise for another 3 hours, always in a warm, non-dry environment.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C. Decorate the surface of the Zelten with dried fruit and candied cherries and brush again with honey.
- Bake and cook for 20 minutes, then brush again with honey and continue baking for another 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven and brush one last time with honey. Let the cake cool and rest, covered with plastic wrap, for a couple of days before serving.
