ITALIAN BUNDT CAKE OR CIAMBELLONE – Recipe by Piero Benigni – This is the classical “Ciambellone” cake, popular everywhere in Italy with minimal variations. Tasty and soft, can be easily prepared in about 20 minutes, than oven cooked for 30-40 more minutes.
Ingredients for 8 persons
- 340 gflour (all-purpose, 2 3/4 cups)
- 200 gsugar (2/3 cup)
- 160 gbutter (2/3 cup)
- 120 mlmilk (1/2 cup)
- 16 gbaking powder (3 teaspoons)
- 4eggs
- 1 pinchsalt
- 2 spoonsorange marmalade (at taste)
Tools for the Italian Bundt cake
- Oven
- Bowl large, 12″ diameter
- Mold for Bundt cake, 10″
- Whip electric
- Non-stick spray
- Sieve
Getting ready for he Italian Bundt cake
Break the eggs into the bowl and add 2/3 cup (220 g) of sugar. Whip eggs and sugar for several minutes, then add the other ingredients in this order: 2/3 cup (165 g) of well-softened butter), 1/2 cup (120 g) of milk, 2 tablespoons of orange marmalade and a pinch of salt. Mix well, then add 2 3/4 cups (340 g) of sieved flour and finally 3 teaspoons of baking powder. Mix well until you have a smooth dough.
Cooking
Spray the mold with a non-stick spray, then fill it with the dough. Put in static oven (not fan-assisted) at 340 °F (170 °C), position as in the photo. It will take 30-40 minutes of cooking, but after 25 start surveying without opening. The top should take a nice brown colour and the surface show a yellow crack.
Always do the toothpick test: fully insert it in the cake’s core and check that it comes out perfectly dry. When the cooking is finished, take out from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes, then gently remove from the mold. Hot cakes are fragile!
This cake will last several days without problems. You can also cut it into slices and freeze it.
NOTES
– Flour must always be sieved in cakes: not for unlikely impurities: it takes air, will make the dough rise better and the cake will be softer.
– If you want this cake extremely light, use 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (130 g) of corn oil instead of butter. You’ll wonder!
– The addition of orange marmalade is not compulsory, it just adds some more taste and smell tu the cake.