This elegant chocolate ciambella (ring cake) is soft, buttery, and easy to make. Learn how to make it with this recipe by Mario Matassa…
There’s something gently nostalgic about a ciambella; the rustic ring-shaped cake with a hole in the centre that earns its name from the Italian word for ‘doughnut.’
In this chocolate ciambella recipe, a delicious swirl of chocolate and vanilla comes together in a tender wreath of cake that’s both elegant and unpretentious. It’s the sort of cake you’ll remember from childhood cafés: simple, buttery, speckled with lemon zest, and begging to be shared.
A 9-inch (23 cm) ciambella/bundt pan is ideal for this recipe. If you don’t have one, a springform pan (9 inch/23 cm) with a makeshift centre insert (like a greased ramekin or tin can) will do.
This chocolate and vanilla ciambella recipe is ideal for breaking in your new ring tin (or testing out substitutes). And when it emerges light, fragrant with lemon zest, and softly striped, you’ll know exactly why Italians love their cakes done simply, but done well.
Serve it with a cappuccino or a glass of sweet dessert wine and let the afternoon unfold.
Chocolate and Vanilla Ring Cake | Ciambella Cioccolato e Vaniglia
A classic Italian ciambella; soft, ring-shaped cake with alternating swirls of chocolate and vanilla. Perfect for morning coffee or a leisurely afternoon slice.
➤ SERVES: 4
➤ PREPARATION: 15 minutes
➤ BAKING: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 4 medium free-range eggs
- 250g caster sugar
- 100ml milk
- 120ml sunflower oil
- 1 heaped tsp baking powder
- Zest of one unwaxed lemon
- 300g plain flour
- 30g unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
Method:
- Crack the eggs into a large bowl. Add the sugar, milk, oil, baking powder and lemon zest. Mix with a spatula until the ingredients come together. Don’t overmix.
- Sieve the flour into the mix and continue mixing until you have a smooth, uniform consistency.
- Divide the mix between two bowls. In one add the cocoa powder, in the other the vanilla essence. Mix both until smooth.
- Butter and flour a ciambella baking tin. Using either two piping bags or a large spoon, pipe or spoon the batters alternately into the dish. Do not preheat the oven.
- Place the dish into the oven and set it to 180º/Gas Mark 4. Bake for between 35-40 minutes. Check with a wooden skewer. If it comes out clean, it’s cooked. Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin.
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Recipe by Mario Matassa