Orange Ciambella, often referred to as an Italian breakfast cake, is an easy, make at the last minute cake to have on hand when company is coming over. Fragrant and infused with orange flavor, this orange cake is the perfect simple dessert to enjoy with your coffee!
Don’t you just love simple desserts? This easy orange ciambella looks so pretty, you’d never guess it took just a few minutes to prepare!
My mother’s ciambella, which is basically an Italian bundt cake, is lightly scented with orange flavor. This is a dessert that takes so little effort to make and everyone loves it! While I do enjoy the height, fluffy texture and lemony flavor of Nonna’s Sponge Cake, when I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to separate egg yolks from the whites I’ll turn to this recipe instead.
This is the cake that my mom often prepares when we go over for Sunday dinner. With a busy day of preparing the Sunday sauce and usually some type of homemade pasta, dessert is often an after thought. So this is what she throws together just so we can have a little something sweet to enjoy with our coffee.
Then I leave with about half of it which is perfect for dunking in my morning coffee! Did I mention it is also known as an Italian breakfast cake?
Step by Step Instructions
You’ll find the complete printable recipe card at the end of this post. Here are step by step instructions with images to guide you through this recipe.
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a tube pan with butter or cooking spray. I happen to have this 2 piece tube pan.
In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar and vegetable oil (1) until the mixture is pale and frothy (2). Stir in the zest and juice of an orange (3).
Sift all-purpose flour, baking powder and salt over the egg mixture (4). Stir until the dry ingredients are just combined (5). Pour into the greased tube pan (6).
Bake at 350F for 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Let sit for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge and removing the cake from the pan.
Cool completely and dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving.
To serve:
I love my desserts very simple and not too sweet therefore a light dusting of powdered sugar is enough for me! However, there are many ways you can dress up this ciambella:
- Serve it with fresh fruit.
- Slice it in half and fill it with pastry cream.
- Top it with a sweet orange glaze.
- Or my mother’s favorite way: lightly drizzle the top with vermouth as it is cooling so it absorbs the alcohol.
Tips and suggestions:
- Grease your pan well to avoid the cake sticking and breaking apart when you unmold it.
- To ensure the perfect texture, be sure to not over mix once you’ve added the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- The zest and juice of 2 lemons may be substituted for the orange.
- Let the cake sit for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan to unmold it.
- This cake keeps well in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Orange Ciambella can be frozen. Seal well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
Are you ready to bake this simple cake? Let me know how much you’ve enjoyed it by rating it in the recipe card below. Feel free to Pin it for later. Buon appetito!
Here are a few more delicious cake recipes for you to check out!
- Nonna’s Sponge Cake
- Blueberry Olive Oil Cake
- Italian Apple Yogurt Cake
- Pineapple Layer Cake with Pastry Cream
Ingredients
- 6 large eggs
- 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 orange zest and juice of
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- pinch of salt
- butter for greasing pan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and grease a tube pan with butter or cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk eggs, sugar and vegetable oil until pale and frothy.
- Stir in orange zest and juice.
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt. Stir into the wet ingredients with a wooden spoon or spatula until just combined.
- Pour batter into the prepared tube pan. Bake for 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Transfer to a cooling rack. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Unmold and let cool completely on the wire rack.
- Lightly dust with powdered sugar before serving.
Notes
- Grease your pan well to avoid the cake sticking and breaking apart when you unmold it.
- To ensure the perfect texture, be sure to not over mix once you've added the dry ingredients. Stir until just combined.
- The zest and juice of 2 lemons may be substituted for the orange.
- Let the cake sit for about 10 minutes before running a knife around the edge of the pan to unmold it.
- This cake keeps well in an airtight container for up to a week.
- Orange Ciambella can be frozen. Seal well in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
- Please note that the nutritional information is approximate and may vary according to exact ingredients used as well as portion size.
Hi, please can you let me know if you half the recipe to serving 6 how much do you need to reduce the cooking time by. Thanks.
Hi Donna, although I havw never halved this recipe I did a bit of research and it can be done. Reduce all ingredients by half, of course, and as for baking time, I would start checking for doneness after 25 minutes using the usual toothpick inserted in the center. Hope this helps!
Hello! Tell me, please, is it possible to cook this cake without a mixer using a manual whisk for whipping?
Hello Sonya, yes it is definitely possible. Just be sure to whish the ingredients well and you should have no problem. Hope you enjoy it!
This cake is amazing! I have made it many times and it always comes out moist and delicious! Love the simple wholesome ingredients!
Many thanks for such a great recipe! 👍🏻
Hello Rose, I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed it. Thank you for your comment!
Great recipe! I added some chopped fresh rosemary for a bit of savory.
Hi Silvana, that sounds quite lovely actually, I think I’ll have to try! Thanks for sharing!
Looking forward to making this.
Thank you Sandra, hope you enjoy it!
How do you make the sweet organge glaze. I cant find the recipe thanks
Hi Laura, in fact I do not have a written recipe for it. However, to make a simple orange glaze I would juice 1 whole orange as well as zest it and whisk in enough powdered sugar to make a glaze. Depending on the consistency that you prefer (thinner or thick), try whisking in from 1 to 1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar. Hope this helps!
Hi could you please have this recipe in grams asking it difficult in cups .
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Hi Angela, if you scroll down to the end of the list of ingredients in my recipe card it will say ‘US- Metric’. Just click on that and it will give you the conversion in grams. Thanks for your question!
Thank you
Hi Nadia, your cake looks amazing! Can I use Caster Sugar for this recipe?
Or does it have to be Granulated Sugar. Thank you Nadia.
Hello Maria, although I have not tried it myself I did a bit of research and it appears that the same amount of caster sugar be used in place of granulated sugar. If yo do give it a try, please let me know how it turns out!
Easy and delicious!! Will be a new go to recipe.
Hi Laura, so glad to hear you enjoyed it! It is indeed such an easy recipe to make. Thanks for taking the time to comment and rate the recipe!
Delicious and simple. Thank you. My Italian boyfriend liked it a lot! 😊
Hello Stephanie, so glad to hear he enjoys it. It is indeed quite an easy recipe! Thanks for sharing this with me!
Hi Nadia I noticed in the video you used a liquid measuring cup for the sugar and flour is this correct? Is this what we should be using? Thx just want to clarify before I make it
Hello Anba, you’ve got a good eye! In fact I do always use a dry measuring cup for my dry ingredients, however in the video I used my liquid measuring cup to pour it in more so for esthetic reasons. So your question is definitely a good one, thanks for pointing that out and sorry for any confusion this may have caused.
Maybe I missed something as I scrolled and read bit I didn’t see a video. Not that I need one, I’m just curious about loquid vs dryeasiring cups. First I’m hearing of this differentiation in over 40 yrs of baking.
Hello Mike, indeed the video is no longer available. However what the reader was referring to is the fact that liquid measuring cups are usually the glass or plastic ones with a handle and the measurements indicated on the outside of the container so you can easily see the mark that you need to fill until. it On the otherhand, the basic set of measuring cups most of us use hold the exact amount of dry ingredients needed and must be leveled off with a flat edge such as a knife. This is the best way to proceed when making a recipe for the most accurate measurements. Hope this helps!
Absolutely lovely. We so enjoyed this and served with whipped cream and fresh raspberries. Bright flavor but not at all overpowering but not lost either. Am making the lemon version tomorrow morning.
Hello Kim, what a lovely way to serve this simple cake, love this idea! Thank you for taking the time to comment!
Can I use mandarin orange for this recipe? If yes, then how many should I use?
Hello Teju, on average 1 orange provides about 4 tbsp of juice and 2 tbsp of zest. One mandarin will provide about 3 tbsp of juice and only 1 tsp of zest. So yes, you can definitely substitute mandarins. So that would be the juice of approximately 1 1/2 mandarins. As for the zest, you can definitely adjust the amount according to taste. Perhaps start with the zest of 2 mandarins and see if that’s enough for you and adjust the next time if necessary. Hope this helps and thanks for your question!
Thanks, Nadia! I tried this recipe with mandarines and it was amazing. Will definitely try some of your other recipes.
Hi Teju, so glad it turned out great, thanks for sharing this with me!
This was literally one of the most flavorful cakes I’ve ever made. Perfect!
Hello Stacy, yes it is very flavorful and yet so easy to make. So glad you enjoyed it and thanks for your kind feedback!
Can I use a bunt pan? I do not have a tube pan
Hi Sandra, yes you definitely can. Hope you enjoy it!
Looks wonderful! Just the kind of thing that I love with my morning coffee. Who knew it was so simple to make? Seems even a non-baker like myself could give it ago. I’ve bookmarked this for this week.
Hi Frank, it’s definitely the right kind of cake for breakfast with coffee! My mom makes it all the time, I can’t believe I don’t make it more often. It’s way too easy! Hope you enjoy it!