Angela’s Ciambella or "the Farm Dessert"

A group of cyclists who stopped for lunch at our Italian headquarters on their way from Venice to Florence in mid-May so enjoyed this cake that my cousin Angela makes for all the groups that they requested her recipe. Here is the recipe for everybody to enjoy….

Traditionally it is cooked in a pan with a hole in the middle (an angel food cake pan would work), although that is not a ‘must’ any longer. Remember also that American flour (especially pastry flour) is different from European flour and that this makes it hard to reproduce the same exact consistency of the cake which tends to be "coarse."

A note about the name ciambella: I don’t know whether the cake took its name from its traditional shape, or gave its name to other objects with a hole in the middle. Whatever the origin, the name denotes a floating life-saver, as well as …the toilet seat!

 

• 4 cups flour (I use half whole wheat)

   

• 2-3 tsp baking powder

   

• 3 eggs

   

• 10 tbsp sugar

   

• almost a cup of butter

   

• milk as necessary

   

Mix all the ingredients with the softened butter and enough milk to make a ‘glue-like’ mixture and cook for about 40 minutes in an oven preheated to 350° F. It is good to eat with ‘caffelatte’ or just coffee, but it is great if you can dunk slices of it in white or red wine, preferably Albana or Sangiovese!

Enjoy!

Paola