Zelten is a traditional Trentino dessert, typical of the Christmas season. It originates as a homemade sweet bread enriched with dried fruit, candied fruit and other typical local ingredients. Its name comes from the German "selten," meaning "rarely," "sometimes." Zelten is not indeed an everyday food, but a dessert to be prepared only on special occasions - like Christmas. Its origin dates back to the 18th century, but there is no single recipe to which it can be traced. It is particularly popular not only in Trentino, but also in South Tyrol and the Austrian Tyrol, with some variations in its preparation related mainly to the amount of fruit used (poorer in Trentino, very rich in South Tyrol).