In Trentino-Alto Adige, Christmas smells like a zelten fruitcake baking in the oven. A rich, festive dessert filled with nuts and candied fruits, there is no one “true” recipe for this seasonal favorite, because every family has its own traditions and cherished ingredients.
What is zelten?
Zelten is a festive fruitcake from Northern Italy filled with nuts and candied fruit and traditionally served during Advent. There is also no single form or look to the zelten cake, because each baker can choose to make their preferred shape, such as a heart, round or square shape and cakes can be large or small.
With the same recipe, you can choose to make one large cake or several small ones. There are also cakes that are more dense and compact with tons of candied fruits and nuts, while other cakes are lighter, with more flour and egg and less of everything else. Here is our favorite zelten recipe for you to try and of course a couple of ideas for variations to make it your own.
Equipment
To make zelten for this coming Christmas season, you will need:
- hand mixer to mix the batter at the beginning
- several large bowls to mix the ingredients during the various steps
- 24 cm/10 inch round baking pan to bake your zelten, or the shape of your choosing
- small saucepan to heat the honey and water glaze
- wooden spoon or spatula to fold in the ingredients
- electronic kitchen scale to weigh all the various ingredients
Ingredients
- Grappa (100 ml) – most recipes use grappa, but you can use rum if you prefer. If you want to go alcohol-free, you can substitute with grape juice.
- Water (100 ml) – tap water or bottled water is fine.
- Raisins (100 grams) – any type of raisin works great, so just use your favorite.
- Dates (50 grams) – you can either purchase seedless/pitless dates or remove them yourself before chopping them up.
- Candied fruit (150 grams) – you either love it or hate it, so if it is the latter you can substitute with more raisins, dates and figs or simply leave out completely for a less dense fruitcake.
- Dried figs (150 grams) – if the figs are whole, be sure to chop them up into small pieces.
- Orange zest ( ½ an orange) – the zest should be from an organic orange and needs to be washed properly and then grated.
- Lemon zest (½ lemon) – again, we always prefer an organic lemon and it should be properly washed and dried before it is grated.
- Butter (150 grams) – you will need to leave the butter out until it reaches room temperature and is soft. You will also need a small amount for prepping the pan you will bake in.
- White sugar (100 grams) – granulated white sugar is the best for this recipe.
- Eggs (2) – farm fresh eggs are highly recommended.
- All purpose flour (200 grams) – besides the amount you will use for the cake, leave a small amount to be able to butter and flour the pan as directed.
- Baking powder (1 Tbsp) – although this is a dense cake, the baking powder provides a little lift so your cake isn’t too hard.
- Walnuts (150 grams) – rich and delicious, walnuts add a wonderful texture to this fruitcake.
- Blanched almonds (50 grams of slivers for batter and 10-20 whole almonds for decoration) – the perfect crunchy addition to this fruitcake.
- Pine nuts (50 grams) – pine nuts can be left whole, especially the smaller varieties.
- Honey (1 Tbsp) – a neutral honey works best, such as millefiori honey.
- Candied cherries (as desired) – you can add as many or as little as your family likes.
How to make zelten fruitcake step-by-step
Prep and soak the dried fruits: Chop the figs and dates and remove seeds/pits from dates, if any. Put the chopped figs and dates as well as the raisins and candied fruit in a bowl. Add the water and grappa (or substitute). Grate the zest of half a lemon and half an orange and add to the bowl. Leave overnight or at least 2 hours to soak.
Chop and prep the nuts: Finely chop the walnuts and put them in another large bowl and add the almond slivers and pine nuts. Set aside.
Prep the oven: Preheat the oven to 170°C (75°F).
Combine the batter: In a third large bowl, use an electric beater to mix the room-temperature butter with the sugar. Add the eggs to the mixture and continue to mix. Now add the baking powder and flour and mix until you have a smooth, uniform batter.
Combine it all: Drain the dried fruit mixture and discard the liquid. Fold the nut mixture as well as the dried fruit mixture into the flour batter and mix carefully and gently with a large spoon, folding in all the ingredients until fairly uniform. Coat a 24-cm (10-inch) round baking pan with butter and flour. Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top until level.
Make it pretty: Decorate the top with the whole almonds and candied cherries as desired, making flowers or other fanciful designs. Bake in the preheated oven at 170°C (75°F) for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Check the cake halfway through to make sure it isn’t getting too brown, you can cover the top with tinfoil if necessary. Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack.
Make it shiny: Heat 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of honey in a small saucepan over low heat. Once hot, use a pastry brush to apply the honey mixture to the top and sides of the cake to make it shiny. Leave to dry.
Expert tips for making zelten fruitcake like a true Italian
If you want to make zelten like a true Italian, you should:
- Soak ‘em: Soak the raisins, dates, figs and candied fruits overnight in the grappa/rum and water.
- Get creative: Use your creativity to make special decorations on the top of the cake such as flower shapes or geometrical patters.
- Fun shapes are a must: Create a cake in a fun shape instead of just doing something round or square, like a heart for example!
Other Tyrolean desserts:
Recipe Variations
- Break out the spices: The Sudtirol version of this recipe has lots of spices including clove, allspice and cinnamon, which can all be added to taste.
- Skip the alcohol: If you prefer not to use rum, you can easily substitute with juice, such as grape juice or apple juice.
- Chocolate instead of fruit: If you don’t like candied fruit, you can simply leave it out of the fruitcake recipe or substitute with more nuts or raisins. If you have a serious chocolate addiction or just want to try something different, you could add dark chocolate chips in place of candied fruit for a twist on the original fruitcake recipe.
FAQs
How can I store zelten fruitcake?
Zelten fruitcake is a great gift because it can be stored for a long period of time without spoiling, even a few weeks if kept in an airtight container or covered with saran wrap. The more alcohol that is used when making the fruitcake, the longer it will last. In some places, fruitcakes are wrapped in alcohol-soaked linens and can be stored for years.
Is zelten the same as fruit cake?
Lots of different cultures have fruitcake of some sort. It spread all over Europe to places like Italy, Germany, Bulgaria and England and on to the new world, arriving in Chile, the United States, Canada, the Bahamas and beyond. Even India and the Philippines have their version of fruitcake.
When and why was zelten traditionally made?
Traditionally, zelten cakes were made during Advent, specifically on December 13th, and often prepared by the young women of the household who would then give a zelten cake to their future husband and his family as a gift.
Another tradition was to have the young women of the household make the cake on December 21st to ask Saint Thomas for fortune in love. The girls’ mother would bless the cake and put it away for the family to eat after Christmas Eve Mass.
Zelten Fruitcake
Equipment
-
1 hand mixer to mix the batter at the beginning
-
several large bowls to mix the ingredients during the various steps
-
1 24 cm/10 inch round baking pan to bake your zelten, or the shape of your choosing
-
1 small saucepan to heat the honey and water glaze
-
1 wooden spoon or spatula to fold in the ingredients
-
1 electronic kitchen scale to weigh all the various ingredients
Ingredients
- 100 ml grappa rum or grape juice
- 100 ml water
- 100 grams raisins
- 50 grams dates
- 150 grams candied fruit
- 150 grams dried figs
- ½ orange zest grated
- ½ lemon zest grated
- 150 grams butter room temperature + small amont for prepping pan
- 100 grams white sugar
- 2 eggs
- 200 grams all purpose flour + small amount for prepping pan
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- 150 grams walnuts
- 50 grams blanched almonds slivers
- 50 grams pine nuts
For decorating:
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 1 Tablespoon honey
- 10-20 blanched whole almonds
- candied cherries if desired
Instructions
-
Chop the figs and dates and remove seeds from dates, if any.
-
Put the chopped figs and dates as well as the raisins and candied fruit in a bowl.
-
Add the water and grappa (or substitute the grappa with rum or, if you prefer something without alcohol, you can use grape juice).
-
Grate the zest of half a lemon and half an orange and add to the bowl.
-
Leave overnight or at least 2 hours to soak.
-
Finely chop the walnuts and put them in another large bowl and add the almond slivers and pine nuts. Set aside.
-
Preheat the oven to 170°C (75°F).
-
In a third large bowl, use an electric beater to mix the room temperature butter with the sugar. Add the eggs to the mixture and continue to mix.
-
Now add the baking powder and flour and mix until you have a smooth, uniform batter.
-
Drain the dried fruit mixture and discard the liquid.
-
Fold the nut mixture as well as the dried fruit mixture into the batter and mix carefully and gently with a large spoon, folding in all the ingredients until fairly uniform.
-
Coat a 24-cm (10-inch) round baking pan with butter and flour.
-
Pour the batter into the pan and smooth the top until level.
-
Decorate the top with the whole almonds and candied cherries as desired, making flowers or other fanciful designs.
-
Bake in the preheated oven at 170°C (75°F) for 40-50 minutes or until golden brown. Check the cake half way through to make sure it isn’t getting too brown, you can cover the top with aluminum foil if necessary.
-
Remove from the oven and let cool on a rack.
-
Heat 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of honey in a small saucepan over low heat. Once hot, turn off and use a pastry brush to apply the honey mixture to the top and sides of the cake to make it shiny. Leave to dry.
