Bettag 2026: Swiss Plum Tart Recipe and a Simple Sunday Menu

The Federal Day of Thanksgiving, Repentance and Prayer (Bettag in German, Jeûne fédéral in French) falls on Sunday 20 September 2026. It is always the third Sunday in September. The Federal Diet fixed that date for all cantons on 1 August 1832 (Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, 2015).

In French-speaking Switzerland, the dish of the day is plum tart. People once fasted until the afternoon church service. A tart, sometimes baked the day before, took the place of a proper meal (Culinary Heritage of Switzerland, revised 2019). Below you find the background, a Zwetschgenwähe recipe and a simple Sunday menu that also feeds you on Monday.

Why Bettag falls on the third Sunday in September

Catholic and Protestant cantons ordered fast and prayer days long before there was a common date. In 1796, with revolution threatening, Bern asked the Federal Diet for a joint day. The first general federal fast was held on 8 September 1796.

The fixed rule came later. On 1 August 1832, on a proposal from Aargau, the Diet fixed the third Sunday in September for all cantons (HLS, 2015). Geneva is the exception: it still keeps its own Jeûne genevois on the Thursday after the first Sunday in September.

In 2026, 1 September is a Tuesday. The Sundays that follow are the 6th, the 13th and the 20th, so Bettag is on 20 September. The official pages of Vaud and Neuchâtel both give Monday 21 September 2026 for the Lundi du Jeûne, which matches.

Lundi du Jeûne and Jeûne genevois: the 2026 dates

Bettag itself is a Sunday everywhere. What differs from canton to canton is the day around it.

Vaud lists the Lundi du Jeûne among its public holidays (Canton of Vaud, public holidays 2026). Neuchâtel does not. Still, the canton states that shops are closed that Monday, with some exceptions, and its administration has the day off (Canton of Neuchâtel, 2026). Geneva had its own holiday ten days earlier, on Thursday 10 September (Canton of Geneva, 2026). If you live in Vaud or Neuchâtel, plan one Saturday shop for the whole long weekend.

Why plum tart is the dish of the day

Plum tart is popular in many parts of Switzerland. The Culinary Heritage of Switzerland inventory links it with the fast day mainly in Romandie (Culinary Heritage of Switzerland). The custom is strongest in the Protestant cantons of Neuchâtel, Vaud and Geneva, and in the Lake district of Fribourg. Note that in Romandie a "pruneau" is a fresh plum of the quetsche type, not a dried prune as in France.

The inventory gives two explanations:

• No time to cook. On the fast day, people originally ate nothing at midday, and church services ran into the afternoon. Families made do with a plum tart, sometimes baked the day before.
• Meal money for the poor. From the early 19th century, the church collected the money normally spent on the Sunday meal and gave it to the poor. Over time, a simple seasonal tart became the meal of the day.

The calendar helped too, since plums are in season in August and September. The oldest written trace is from German-speaking Switzerland: the Schweizerisches Idiotikon records "Zwätschgedüne", another word for Zwetschgenwähe, from 1624. The first recipe from Romandie appeared in La cuisinière genevoise in 1817. The fast day custom itself probably dates from the early 20th century.

RTS describes the tart as once the only dish of that Sunday, because it was quick to make, frugal and in season (RTS, 2018). Today it is mostly eaten as dessert. In a 2004 survey on food identities in Romandie, a good third of respondents named plum tart when asked about their favourite Jeûne dishes.

Zwetschgenwähe recipe for one 28 cm tin

This recipe follows the steps in the Culinary Heritage inventory: shortcrust pastry, halved plums, sugar and cinnamon. It gives 8 slices. For more ideas, see our cheap Swiss plum recipes.

Pastry

• 250 g flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 125 g cold butter, in small cubes
• about 1 dl cold water (or 1 egg yolk topped up with water)

Filling

• about 1 kg plums (Zwetschgen), halved and stoned
• 3 tablespoons ground hazelnuts or breadcrumbs, or 2 tablespoons apricot jam
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• optional: 1 dl cream whisked with 1 egg

1. Rub the flour, salt and butter between your fingers until crumbly. Add the water and bring the dough together quickly without kneading it for long.
2. Wrap the dough and chill it for at least 30 minutes.
3. Roll it out 3 to 5 mm thick, line a buttered or paper-lined tin and prick the base with a fork.
4. Sprinkle the nuts or crumbs over the base, or brush it with the jam. This layer soaks up the plum juice.
5. Arrange the plums tightly in circles, cut side up.
6. Bake in the lower half of the oven at about 180 °C for 30 to 40 minutes. If you use the cream and egg, pour it over the plums after 15 minutes.
7. Mix the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it over the warm tart.

A simple Sunday menu that also covers Monday

The menu below serves 4 people on Sunday and leaves a second meal for Monday. It uses autumn vegetables, apples and pantry staples. In Vaud, Monday is a holiday too, so the leftovers save you a cooking session on your day off.

The savings logic needs no price list:

• Buy what is in season. Plums are in season in August and September, and so are squash and apples. Fruit and vegetables in full season are usually easier to find at a good price.
• Start from the pantry. Flour, butter, sugar, pasta, potatoes and onions are things many households already have. Use whatever hard cheese is in your fridge rather than buying a special one.
• Cook once, eat twice. A double pot of soup and a bigger batch of Älplermagronen take one cooking session and cover Monday as well. Planned leftovers rarely end up in the bin.
• Shop once. Most shops are closed on Sunday, and in Neuchâtel on Monday as well. One Saturday list avoids extra trips and impulse buys.

For the main course, our guide to Swiss classics on a budget has more ideas around Älplermagronen.

Where Eini fits

The Groceries module in the Eini app builds a weekly meal plan for lunch and dinner on the days you cook. It starts from the week's promotions at Coop, Migros, Lidl, Aldi, Denner and Aligro. It adds an automatic shopping list and takes your pantry into account. The "cook once, eat twice" option turns one cooking session into two meals, just like this Bettag menu. Find out more about the meal planner app; the first 3 meal plans are free.