Zelten
Ingredients: 400g of wheat flour, 400g of walnuts, 300g of dried figs, 150g of sultanas, 100g of candied citron, 200g of sugar, 120g of butter, 2 eggs, 2 small glasses of grappa, the grated rind of 1 orange, 1 sachet of yeast, a little milk, a pinch of salt. Zèlten is a traditional cake baked at Christmas, somewhat laborious to prepare, which keeps for several days in a cool place. Place the butter in a bowl and beat vigorously with the sugar and the eggs, then add the flour, yeast and salt. Add the milk and mix to a smooth paste with a wooden spoon. Add half of the walnuts, broken up into pieces, together with the roughly chopped figs, the whole pine nuts, the washed sultanas, the grated orange rind and the grappa. Work all the ingredients together for about 15 minutes and then place in a greased, floured dish: spread the mix out with your hands to a thickness of about 1 cm circa. Decorate with the remaining walnuts, halved, and bake in a hot oven for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven when the surface of the Zèlten has turned a nice reddish-brown colour. Recommended wines: Vin Santo dessert wine, with a pleasant, aromatic fragrance, served at a temperature of 8 °C. |