South Tyrolean Zelten is a Christmas cake rich in nuts and dried fruit, with a dough made of wheat flour and rye flour, typical of Trentino Alto Adige.
There are other variations, such as Zelten from Bolzano (or Trentino Zelten), which resembles more of a cake, has a soft texture, and contains eggs and butter.
Traditionally, Zelten is prepared around Saint Lucy’s day, December 13th, and then enjoyed at Christmas, as it needs to rest for at least 10 days before being consumed.
The most commonly used nuts are walnuts, dried figs, almonds, pine nuts, and raisins.
It is often decorated with blanched almonds and cherries.
The name probably derives from the German word selten, which translates to “rarely,” as it was usually prepared only once a year.
The cake was featured in the ViaggiandoMangiando on air broadcast on December 21, 2024.
Another Christmas cake rich in nuts and dried fruit soaked in rum:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 2 Hours 15 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 8 Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Christmas
Ingredients
Nuts, dried and candied fruit: 8.8 oz dried figs, 6.5 oz raisins, 2.1 oz walnuts, 2.1 oz pine nuts, 2.1 oz almonds, 0.5 oz candied citron, lemon, and orange peel.
- 1 fl oz white wine
- 1/2 glass rum
- 1 fl oz honey (+ for brushing)
- 2.6 oz rye flour
- 1.8 oz wheat flour
- to taste cumin
- to taste star anise
- to taste ground cinnamon
- to taste allspice
- 3 cloves
- to taste nutmeg
- to taste lemon and orange zest
- to taste candied cherries
- to taste blanched almonds (for decoration)
- to taste candied orange or lemon peel (for decoration)
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 0.9 oz fresh yeast
Tools
- 1 Baking Pan 20 cm
Steps
Cut the figs and combine with all the other nuts, dried and candied fruit.
Add the rum, white wine, and honey. Let it marinate, preferably overnight.
Then add the cinnamon, lemon and orange zest, cloves, allspice, and nutmeg.
For the dough: dissolve the yeast with a teaspoon of sugar, add the flours, knead with 3.5 fl oz of water, then add the cumin and star anise, and a pinch of salt.
Create a round dough and let it rise for 2 hours, covered.
Add the marinated fruit to the dough, spread on a round pan, and let it rest for 15 minutes.
Decorate with almonds, candied cherries, and candied peels to form flowers.
Brush with more honey and bake in the oven at 338°F for 45 minutes.
Trentino Zelten
Trentino Zelten, on the other hand, is part of the category: “Früchtebrot“, or fruit bread, like berewecke, birnebrot (pear bread), hutzenbrot, hutzelbrot, kletzenbrot, klötzenbrot, and schnitzbrot, sweet breads baked with dried fruits.
