Zelten is a scrumptious vacation deal with (or “treats,” extra on that later) from the northern Italian area of Trentino-Alto Adige. It’s basically a fruitcake, stuffed with a ton of Christmas flavors: figs, candied fruit, nuts, spices, grappa, honey, and extra. Like quite a lot of conventional fruitcake recipes, they’re ideally suited to final all through the vacation season as a result of their naturally lengthy shelf life.
There are literally two distinct types of Zelten. The primary resembles a standard fruitcake (albeit maybe rather less dense and boozy) whereas the opposite is technically a bread, however with such a small quantity of dough that the top result’s extra like a sweet bar, however largely sweetened naturally by the figs, candied fruit, and so on. Right here we are going to share each recipes, starting with the “fruitcake” model.
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Makes: 1 cake, serves 8 to 10
Cook dinner Time: About an hour, plus some prep the day earlier than
For the filling, you’ll need:
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5.25 ounces (150 g) dried figs, chopped
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1.75 ounces (50 g) pitted dates, chopped
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¾ cup (150 g) candied fruit, chopped
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⅔ cup (100 g) raisins
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1 ½ cups (150 g) walnuts, chopped
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⅓ cup (50 g) peeled almonds, chopped
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⅓ cup (50 g) hazelnuts, chopped
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⅓ cup (50 g) pine nuts
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½ lemon zest, grated
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½ orange zest, grated
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1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon, or to style
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½ teaspoon floor cloves, or to style
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½ teaspoon allspice, or to style
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½ teaspoon floor nutmeg, or to style
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7 tablespoons (100 ml) grappa or spiced rum
For the cake batter, you’ll need
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10 tablespoons (150 g) butter, room temperature
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½ cup (100 g) sugar
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2 giant eggs
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1 ¼ cups (150 g) all-purpose flour
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½ cup (50 g) rye flour
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2 ½ teaspoons (10 g) baking powder
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A pinch of salt
For adorning and topping the cake, you’ll need:
In a big mixing bowl, mix the entire filling substances and stir collectively. Cowl the bowl with plastic wrap and let it sit at room temperature in a single day.
The next day, mix the butter and sugar in a big mixing bowl. With a hand mixer, whip the butter till the sugar is totally included and the feel is smooth and creamy. Add the 2 eggs and proceed to combine till they’re nicely included.
Utilizing a superb mesh sieve, sift each flours and the baking powder into the butter combination. Add a pinch of salt and blend with the hand mixer till the entire substances are evenly combined into a really smooth dough.
Add the entire filling substances into the dough and stir all collectively till the nuts, figs, and so on. are evenly distributed.
Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C) and line a 9 or 10-inch (23-25 cm) spherical cake pan with parchment paper. A springform pan is useful however a traditional spherical pan will work superb, supplied it’s a minimum of 2 ½ inches (6.5 cm) tall. To line it with parchment paper, moist the paper within the sink first after which squeeze out the surplus water. The damp paper might be a lot simpler to work with.
Evenly unfold the fruitcake batter into the pan. Embellish the highest with candied cherries and pine nuts. A typical sample utilized in Trentino-Alto Adige is to position a number of cherries on prime and use the pine nuts as “petals” to kind flowers.
Bake the cake for about 40 minutes, or till the highest is browned. When the cake is nearly finished baking, mix the honey and a couple of tablespoons (30 ml) of water in a small saucepan and stir over low warmth till the honey fully dissolves.
Whereas the cake and the honey syrup are nonetheless heat, brush the latter on prime of the Zelten. Let the cake cool to room temperature, ideally in a single day, earlier than eradicating from the pan and serving. The cake will be wrapped in plastic wrap and saved at room temperature for as much as two weeks.
ZELTEN “BREAD” RECIPE
For the filling, you’ll need:
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3 ½ tablespoons (70 g) honey
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3 ½ tablespoons (50 ml) white wine
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17.5 ounces (500 g) dried figs, chopped
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2 cups (400 g) raisins
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½ cup (120 g) candied fruit, chopped
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1 cup (120 g) pine nuts
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¾ cup (120 g) peeled almonds, chopped
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¾ cup (120 g) walnuts, chopped
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¾ cup (120 g) hazelnuts, chopped
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2 teaspoons cinnamon, or to style
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1 teaspoon floor anise, or to style
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1 teaspoon floor cumin, or to style
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½ teaspoon floor cloves, or to style
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½ teaspoon allspice, or to style
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½ teaspoon nutmeg, or to style
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½ lemon zest, grated
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½ orange zest, grated
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½ cup (120 ml) grappa or spiced rum
For the dough, you’ll need:
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1 ¼ cups (150 g) all-purpose flour
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¾ cup (100 g) rye flour
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1 teaspoon floor anise
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1 teaspoon floor cumin
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1 tablespoon (15 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus somewhat additional for greasing
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1 tablespoon (20 g) honey
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2 ¼ teaspoons (7 g) energetic dry yeast
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⅔ cup (150 ml) water, or as wanted
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A pinch of salt
For adorning and topping the cake, you’ll need:
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Entire candied cherries for topping
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Pine nuts for topping
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1 tablespoon (12 g) sugar
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1 tablespoon (21 g) honey
In a cup or bowl, stir the honey into the white wine till the honey fully dissolves. Mix the remainder of the filling substances into a big mixing bowl and pour the honey/wine combination on prime. Stir all collectively, cowl the bowl with plastic wrap, and let it relaxation at room temperature in a single day.
The next day, mix the flours, anise, cumin, olive oil, honey and yeast in a big mixing bowl. Roughly combine the substances along with a fork, then start steadily including the water whereas persevering with to combine. When about half of the water has been combined in, add the salt and proceed to combine.
Hold including water and blend by hand till a sticky dough kinds. Switch the dough onto a clear work floor and proceed to knead by hand for a couple of minutes, or till evenly combined. A bench scraper will be helpful when working with a sticky dough as it is going to enable you to to scrape it off the work floor.
Rub somewhat olive oil on the perimeters and backside of the blending bowl and place the dough again in. Cowl the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rise in a heat place till it roughly doubles in measurement—about one hour.
When the dough has risen, place it on prime of the filling substances you ready the day earlier than. Together with your fingers, combine the dough into the nuts, figs, and so on. Accomplish that at first within the bowl, however be at liberty to switch it to a piece floor when handy to knead all of them collectively.
When the filling and dough are evenly combined (the previous will principally take in the latter), minimize the combination into 4 equal parts. Every portion will make one small cake. Flatten every till it’s about 2 inches (5 cm) tall. They are often merely made spherical, or fashioned into any form you want (coronary heart, star, Christmas tree, and so on.). Organize the muffins on parchment paper-lined baking sheets (you’ll most likely want two trays to suit all of them) and allow them to relaxation at room temperature for 20 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 325° F (165° C).
Whereas the muffins relaxation, you’ll be able to beautify the tops with candied cherries and pine nuts, then prime them with syrup. To make the syrup, mix 1 tbsp. (12 g) sugar, 1 tbsp. (21 g) honey, and 4 tsp. (20 ml) water in a small saucepan. Stir over low warmth till the honey and sugar dissolve fully, then brush the syrup on prime of the muffins.
Bake the muffins one tray at a time for 35 minutes. Let the Zelten cool fully, ideally in a single day, earlier than serving. They are often wrapped in plastic wrap and saved at room temperature for as much as two weeks.
