Most Italians have a go-to coffee bar for their breakfast: usually an espresso or cappuccino and a cornetto (a croissant). If you get to the bar on the late side you might find you're out of luck on the pastry side.
You’ll almost always find the bar’s homemade ciambellone, which is quite similar to a delicious poundcake. Every bar sells these; some are homemade, and some are purchased, but by and large they are all very tasty. Our local coffee bar, the MepCaffé, is exceptional and prepares great Italian breakfast treats, and also wonderful lunches and afternoon aperitivi. This bar’s Ciambellone Breakfast Pound Cake with Fresh Blueberries is soft and rich, full of flavor with a hint of orange. Here’s the recipe.
Ciambellone Breakfast Pound Cake with Fresh Blueberries
Ingredients:
Eggs, three large
Sugar, 250 g
All-purpose or “00” flour, 250 g
Baking powder, 1 teaspoon
Fresh squeezed orange juice*, 150 g
Zest from one untreated orange
Peanut oil, 130 g
Procedure:
Preheat the oven to 180°C.
Lightly butter and flour a Ciambellone baking pan. A Ciambellone baking pan is a tubular cake pan.
Beat the eggs and sugar together until they are creamy and fluffy.
Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
Add the flour mixture, orange juice and zest, and oil to the egg mixture in thirds beating after each addition until just incorporated.
Pour the batter into the Ciambellone pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
Allow the cake to cool completely before transferring the Ciambellone Breakfast Pound Cake with Fresh Blueberries to an attractive cake serving platter.
Another delicious cake you might enjoy is this Lemon Poundcake!
*Note that it is not essential to use freshly squeezed orange juice in this cake. The 150 g of orange juice can be replaced with any other juice that you prefer, or with milk.
If you replace the orange juice with another citrus juice like lemon or lime you should also use that fruit’s zest instead of orange zest.
If you use 150 g of milk instead of juice it's not strictly necessary to include the orange zest, but it does lend a wonderful flavor to the cake and I always include it.
Please note that the below printable recipe can be viewed and printed in either metric or U.S. conventional measurements; just click on your preference within the recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 Eggs
- 250 grams Sugar
- 250 grams All-purpose or “00” flour
- 1 teaspoon Baking powder
- 150 grams Fresh squeezed orange juice*
- 1 Zest from one untreated orange
- 130 grams Peanut oil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- Lightly butter and flour a Ciambellone baking pan. A Ciambellone baking pan is a tubular cake pan.
- Beat the eggs and sugar together until they are creamy and fluffy.
- Sift the flour and baking powder together and set aside.
- Add the flour mixture, orange juice and zest, and oil to the egg mixture in thirds beating after each addition until just incorporated.
- Pour the batter into the Ciambellone pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.
- Allow the cake to cool completely before transferring the Ciambellone to a serving platter.
Notes
Nutrition
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Phyllis Knudsen says
FYI...the plates are Kosta Boda. I bought 4 dinner sized plates that I use for salads and 4 soup sized bowls...I need to remember to use them more often! The dishwasher is not their friend! I bought them in 1980! And they were not cheap then...but I love them. How I wish our kitchen was larger or we had a huge pantry where I could have these things within sight so I'd remember about them! Ciao,
sally says
I am an experienced baker.I can tell that this is a very good recipe.
Wendy says
Sally, this is one of my favorite recipes for an afternoon snack or as a breakfast cake. Have you given it a try yet?
Phyllis Knudsen says
Buongiorno from sunny, hot (100F) Vancouver! Just wanted to let you know that I finally made your recipe for this cake. Being a big fan of citrus, the cake suited us right down to the ground....and our good friends/neighbours too! I made one little adjustment and that was to add a bit of sea salt. We had it with a sauce I made using up last year's raspberries, blueberries and some of the fresh, wonderfully sweet local strawberries that are a special treat for us in June. Oh and BTW....you have very good taste in plates! I love these Kosta Boda glass plates! Have a set of 4 plates and 4 soup type bowls that I bought in 1980!
Wendy says
Phyllis, I had no idea what those plates were called! I actually inherited them from one of my Italian aunts here in Italy.
I think just about any delicious fresh berry will work in this recipe and you're so right about the addition of sea salt; It turns almost anything into magic!
Bel says
Love this simple and delicious cake. Thank you for sharing this recipe.
Wendy says
My pleasure! Let me know how it goes once you make the recipe!