Chocolate Chip Ring Cake {Ciambellone con Gocce di Cioccolato}

by cakeduchess on February 4, 2012 · 56 comments

February is the month of love and decadent chocolate desserts. I decided after trying to contain my love of chocolate to gently ease myself back into the tangled web it weaves. An Italian ciambella with chocolate chips was a seemingly nice and safe start.

Well, sort of safe. Not that safe when you love it so much and eat it for breakfast and an afternoon snack with coffee…every day for 5 days straight. Not too safe when the kids ask for another one as soon as they realize they are eating the last slices.

What is a ciambellone (or ciambella)? It’s a ring shaped cake but it tastes more like a cookie. It’s sort of like the Italian version of a Bundt. You will find different variations of a ciambella all around Italy. Most of the time, I love my ciambella simply accented with lemon juice and lemon rind. But you can add whatever flavors you like to it.

What is the pretty sunshine in my latest posts? We’re in the middle of winter, right? Six more weeks of winter were predicted this week and I feel that it hasn’t even started yet for us. Luca keeps asking me, “Where is winter? Is it coming back mommy?”.

In this ciambella there is a mashed banana and yogurt to make it a little more moist than the usual dense recipe I make. Ideally eaten the first day when it’s slightly warm dipped in your caffe latte. Even more wonderful the next day for an afternoon snack. A family favorite that you will thank me for!

In this ciambella there is a mashed banana and yogurt to make it a little more moist than the usual dense recipe I make. Ideally eaten the first day when it’s slightly warm dipped in your caffe latte. Even more wonderful the next day for an afternoon snack. A family favorite that you will thank me for!

February is #chocolatelove month!

Please join in on the #chocolatelove fun by linking up any chocolate recipe from the month of February 2012. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #chocolatelove event! The twitter hashtag is #chocolatelove .

Cohosted by:
A Little Bit of Everything, Astig Vegan, Badger Girl Learns to Cook, Baker Street, Baking and Cooking A Tale of Two Loves, Baking Extravaganza, BigFatBaker, Bon a Croquer, CafeTerraBlog, Cake Duchess, Cakeballs Cookies and More, Cooking with Books, Creative Cooking Corner, Easily Good Eats, Elephant Eats, Georgie Cakes, Hobby and More, Java Cupcake, Kitchen Belleicious, Mike’s Baking, Mis Pensamientos, No One Likes Crumbley Cookies, Oh Cake, Preheat the Oven, Rico sin Azucar, Savoring Every Bite, Simply Reem, Smart Food and Fit, Soni’s Food for Thought, Sprint 2 the Table, Teaspoon of Spice, That Skinny Chick Can Bake!!!, The Dusty Baker, The More than Occasional Baker, The Spicy RD, The Wimpy Vegetarian, Vegan Yak Attack!, Vegetarian Mamma, You Made That?

Chocolate Chip Ring Cake {Ciambellone con Gocce di Cioccolato}

1/2 cup of Greek yogurt (I used Chobani)
1 ripe banana
zest and juice of one lemon (or small orange)
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup demerra sugar (or granulated sugar)
1/2 cup canola oil (I usually do 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup canola)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 medium eggs
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray with baking spray a tube or Bundt pan.

In a small bowl, mash the banana and mix in the juice of the lemon and the yogurt; set aside. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder; set aside. In a large bowl, beat sugar, oil and vanilla extract until combined. Add the eggs one at a time until the batter is light and fluffy (about 5-7 minutes).

Add the flour to the batter alternating with the yogurt mixture and mix until combined. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix well. Fold in the chocolate chips. Add the batter to your prepared pan.

Pour the batter into the cake pan and bake in the middle of the oven for 35-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean.

Let the cake cool for 20 minutes or so before turning out onto a cake rack.