Ciambellone - Italian Easter Bread - Pink Saturday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I had some fun testing recipes for the Italian Easter Bread that's called Ciambellone. I'm not going to talk about the two recipes that failed, other than to say my evil eye is now trained on the developers and, once they recover, they'll get with the program and do a better job. I am happy to report that I did find a workable recipe. This link, Chef's Line , will take you to a pod cast that demonstrates exactly how Easter Bread is made. Ciambellone falls somewhere between a cake and bread on the culinary periodic table. It tastes like soft biscotti and that, of course, makes it perfect to serve with coffee or tea. It also requires no special equipment to make. Flour is piled onto an immaculately clean board and the remainder of the ingredients are added to a fist-made well and mixed into the flour using your equally immaculate fingers. It's then formed into rings and baked. I prefer to make one large ring and use a ring mold to enhance the appearance of the Ciambellone. The recipe appears below the next photo.

I also want to share a great recipe for Soft Sugar Cookies with you. It comes from Denise at Cottage Sisters. I stumbled on it while searching for the Italian Easter Bread. She was kind enough to share the recipe and photo with me so I could pass them on to you. I hope you'll take a look at her fabulous site.


Photo courtesy of Cottage Sisters


Ciambellone - Italian Easter Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Kitchen Guy at Chef's Line

Ingredients:
4 cups flour
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil or melted butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
1 egg for egg wash
Confectioners' sugar for dusting

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a large baking sheet or a 9-inch tube pan. Set aside.
2) Mound flour on a board. Create a well in center of mound. Using your fingers, begin alternating liquid and other dry ingredients into well, mixing until all ingredients are combined. Knead, adding additional flour if needed, to form a smooth dough.
3) Divide into one or two parts and shape into fat rings. Beat additional egg with a teaspoon of water. Brush top of ring with egg wash. Place on baking sheet or into tube pan. Bake 40 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Yield: 1 or 2 coils.

You might also enjoy these recipes:

Lemon Tea Cookies - One Perfect Bite
Chinese-Style Almond Cookies - One Perfect Bite
Kona Coffee Cookies - One Perfect Bite

This post is being linked to:
Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.