I show here the
Italian recipe for Zelten that is the
traditional dessert prepared in
Trentino Alto Adige during the
Christmas feast. It is a sort of bread stuffed with fruits; in particular it contains raisins, pine nuts, almonds, patty cedar, dates and walnuts with the addition of some cinnamon and clove. According to the tradition all the members of a family should be participate to the preparation of zelten and it has been eaten only after the
Christmas mass of midnight as a symbol of thanksgiving. Zelten can have different shape, a heart shape, an oval shape or a rectangular shape and this variety indicates the great fantasy that you can use for the preparation of this delicious recipe. It can be assimilate to the typical Panettone of Milan, but the difference is that its preparation is more brief and simple.
INGREDIENTS (for 8 – 10 people):
150 g of Butter
4 Eggs
450 g of Flour
200 g of icing sugar
16 g of Yeast for sweet
50 g Raisins
50 g of Pine nuts
50 g of Almonds without peel
100 g of Patty cedar
50 of Dates
50 g of Kernels of Walnuts
1 dl of Grappa
Cinnamon
Some clove
3 Tablespoons of milk
1 dl of Water
PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour and 30 minutes
COOKING TIME: 30 - 40 minutes
WINE: Trentino DOC Vino Santo (Red Wine)
PREPARATIONIn a bowl place the raisins and the patty cedar with grappa and let them marinate for about 1 hour.
In the meantime prepare the other ingredients: stone the dates and cut them in thin strips;in a saucepan let water boil and melt in it the butter stirring with a wood-spoon
then mix in a bowl the beaten eggs with the icing sugar
until you obtain an homogenous mixture. Now add the flour little by little
and the yeast, mix with a wood-spoon,
add the mixture of water and butter and continue to stir in order to obtain a well amalgamated mixture.
Drain the raisins and the cedar form grappa; add them to the dough together with the pine nuts, the almonds, the dates, and the kernels of walnuts, some cinnamon, some clove and mix until all the ingredients will be combined.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Place a sheet of baking paper on the surface of a baking pan of 24 cm of diameter, pour on it the dough and brush on the surface the milk.
Bake for about 30 minutes or until the surface become golden. To be sure that zelten is ready put on it a spaghetto and if it is dry when you remove it, zelten is ready.
Serve it when it becomes cool.
This is the result:
BUON APPETITO!
