Zelten...a traditional Christmas cake from Trentino Alto Adige

This is another cake I made during the Christmas holidays. Zelten is the traditional dessert prepared in Trentino Alto Adige in this season. The name comes from the German word "selten", which means "seldom" since it is baked only in this special occasion. The recipe can vary a little bit from village to village, it is mainly prepared with flour, eggs, butter, sugar and baking powder like a sweet bread stuffed with candied fruits and nuts.  In my version, I only used dry figs, raisins and a lot of nuts. The result is a very rich and tasty cake that can be cut in little cubes and eaten little by little on Christmas and the days after. Covered with film it can last indeed several days without losing its full taste. I read that according to the tradition all the members of the family should contribute to the preparation of Zelten and that it has to be eaten just after the Midnight Mass  as a symbol of Thanksgiving. Well, I did it all by myself...but my family was very active in eating and finishing it...Here the recipe, enjoy it! And a very Happy New Year to you all...hope it will be a year full of good little things...stay tuned! 

Zelten

(this recipe is taken from giallozafferano.it) 

1 glass of water (or milk)

500 g dry figs

40 g hazelnuts

40 g walnuts

40 g almonds

40 g pine nuts

40 g raisins

70 g dry raisins type Malaga 

2 small glasses of rum

80 g butter

1 sachet baking powder

3 eggs

100 g sugar

250 g white flour

Cut dry figs in little strips, the Malaga raisins in smaller pieces and grind grossly part of the walnuts. Put these fruits in a large bowl, add raisins, the rest of the nuts and the rum. Let this fruit compound macerate for at least one hour. In the meantime separate the yolks from the egg whites. Beat the yolks with half sugar, till they get  light and frothy. Melt the butter in a kettle. Add this melted butter to the eggs, stirring well. Add the macerated fruits, a glass of lukewarm water or milk (I used milk), continuing to stir. At this point add the sifted flour and baking powder. In another bowl beat the egg whites until stiff with the rest of the sugar and add them gently to  the dough. Pour the paste into a oven dish (20x25 cm) previously buttered and sprinkled with flour. Decorate with additional nuts as desired. Brush the surface with a yolk and bake at 160 C for about 90 minutes. If the surface gets too brown, cover with an aluminium foil, riddling it with a fork (to let the steam go out).