Ciambella of Romagna was one of the flavors of the summer holidays when I was a child.
Every Italian child who knows it means that has spent one or more summers on the Adriatic coast of Romagna.
At the beginning of summer, we used to go to the seaside with grandma.
Until August, our parents would only come at weekends. I still remember those long, thoughtless holidays with days that seemed never-ending. A magical time of sea, beach, and pinewoods began. Sometimes, I went with Grandma to the vegetable market and the port, where she bought fresh fish. It was always a joy for me.
Grandma Sara, who cooked all year round, would decide the menu and oversee the preparation of meals on vacation. Still, she would also take a break from the stove by enlisting some help.
I remember Grandma leaving early in the morning to go to the bakery. When she returned, we children stormed her, curious to discover what surprise was concealed in the bags that smelled of fresh bread and other good things. Sometimes, there was bombolone with custard, others red pizza or focaccia, and sometimes, the ciambella of Romagna was strictly stuffed with Nutella and covered with granulated sugar.
Ciambella of Romagna
The dough of that traditional ciambella and one of the pinza of Bologna, another typical local sweet recipe, are almost identical. It is the filling that is different. In fact, the pinza is filled with mostarda Bolognese, a thick and sweet preserve typical of Bologna. They are both typical cupboard cakes of Emilia-Romagna for breakfast or a snack,
There are several versions of the ciambella romagnola (brazadela in dialect). More or less crispy or, on the contrary, soft like the ciambella di Imola. The ciambella of Romagna, like many Italian cakes, is made with classic ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. And from their infinite combinations, as always, something good is born.
The cake will be fresh for several days.
Buona cucina, Monica
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Ciambella of Romagna filled with Nutella
Equipment
- 1 large baking tray, 30x40
Ingredients
- 250 g of 00 flour
- 2 g of baking powder for cakes
- 100 g of sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- 110 g of cold butter in chunks
- 2 regular eggs
- 250 g of Nutella or another cream/jam
- sugar for decoration
Instructions
- Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a bowl.
- Add butter and eggs and mix quickly with fingertips until smooth and soft.
- Rest in the refrigerator for 2 to 3 hours, even better overnight.
- Take 3/4 of the dough, keep the rest aside, and roll it out with a rolling pin on a sheet of baking paper to a height of about 0.5 cm, forming a rectangle.
- Stuff with Nutella reaching 1 cm from the edges.
- Helping yourself with a spatula, fold the edges of the dough inward (look at the pics below the recipe).
- Preheat the oven to 180C degrees (356F).
- Roll out the dough you set aside with a rolling pin and use it as a lid to close the cake and seal the Nutella inside by gently pushing your fingers to make the edges match.
- Line a wide cake pan with parchment paper and arrange the cake in the center (it tends to expand during baking).
- Cover with sugar and bake in the oven for about 25 minutes or until the dough is lightly browned.
- Remove the ciambella from the oven and let it rest for 15 minutes before placing it on a wire rack to cool. The freshly baked cake is soft and may break. Once cooled, the Romagnola doughnut is crisp and crumbly.
Food tips
- If the cake seems a little soft before baking, store it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or in the freezer for 10 minutes.
- The cake will keep fragrant for days.
