Ciambella Mandorlata | An Italian Easter Bread

Ciambella Mandorlata, an Italian Easter bread that originated in Bologna in the Emilia Romagna region, is typically baked in the shape of a ring, to represent the unity of the family.

Aparna, of My Diverse Kitchen, chose this lovely bread as the bread of the month for the Bread Baking Babes.

Ciambella is made with an enriched yeast dough and has a soft brioche-like texture.  It is topped with crunchy sweet spiced almonds, which in my opinion, is the best part.

The traditional method for shaping this bread is to roll the dough into two long ropes, twist them together, and pinch the ends to fashion a ring-shaped bread.  However, this bread can also be baked as a loaf or doughnut-shaped.

The original recipe makes a large ring or loaf of Ciambella.

I decided to shape two smaller rings because my dough was made with whole wheat pastry flour and white whole wheat flour, and it was a little tricky trying to shape one large ring.  I also gave the dough a cold ferment in the refrigerator for a couple of days and shaped it cold.  Giving it a cold ferment helps develop the structure and shaping it cold makes it much easier to work with.

One of the other bakers recommended tenting the bread, if necessary, to keep it from burning during the baking cycle.  I didn’t end up tenting the bread, but I did turn the oven down after about 10 minutes.  Some of the almonds got a wee bit toastier than I anticipated, but even so, I enjoyed the crunchy topping.

Typically baked for Easter, but generally eaten throughout the year, and mostly at breakfast, this Italian Easter Bread goes well with coffee.  I enjoyed slices of the first loaf toasted and spread with butter or just plain.

Some people also like to spread it with jam, but I didn’t want to cover up the flavor of the bread by spreading it with something other than butter.  Did I mention I really enjoyed the toasted almond crunch.

The good thing about making two smaller loaves is that I was able to enjoy one loaf and save the other one for later.  I wrapped the second loaf in some bees wrap I’ve been testing and it rested on the counter for a week.

This bread keeps well due to the enrichments (milk, butter, eggs, sugar). Wrapping it in bees wrap instead of storing it in a plastic bag worked well.  Even after a week, it still made good toast. I also think it would make great French toast.

Changes I made to the original recipe:

• Decreased the amount of dried yeast from 2 teaspoons to 1 teaspoon
• Used a combination of 85% extraction white soft wheat and home-milled white wheat flour instead of regular bread flour
• Reduced the eggs from 3 large to 2 large
• Reduced the amount of butter used from 9 tablespoons to 8 tablespoons (1 stick)
• Used the zest of 2 large lemons instead of 3 regular lemons
• Used demerara sugar instead of granulated sugar
• Used slivered almonds instead of blanched almonds and didn’t toast them ahead of time
• Used almond milk instead of regular milk
• Increased the amount of water slightly due to the whole grains
• Added in some lemon extract; almond extract would also be really good in this bread
• Let the dough cold ferment in the refrigerator for about 2 days instead of baking the loaf the same day.  A one-day cold ferment is probably better, but my schedule didn’t allow for this.

Ciambella Mandorlata | Italian Easter Bread

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• Author: Bread Experience
• Yield: 1 Large or 2 Smaller Loaves 1x

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Description

Ciambella Mandorlata, an Italian Easter bread that originated in Bologna in the Emilia Romagna region, is typically baked in the shape of a ring, to represent the unity of the family.

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

For the dough:

• 1 tsp instant dry yeast
• 1/2 cup lukewarm milk (I used almond milk)
• 350 grams pastry flour (I used Carolina Ground Pastry 85 milled from GA wheat)
• 140 grams White Whole Wheat flour (I used Clarks Cream, freshly-milled)
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup demerara sugar
• grated zest of 2 large lemons
• 113 grams, 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup water, plus 2 Tbsp. add’l if using whole wheat
• 1/2 tsp lemon extract, optional

For the topping:

• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 40 g / 3 tbsp demerara sugar
• 180 g / 3/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 egg yolk

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Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and lemon zest.
2. In a separate container, combine the beaten eggs, milk, and extract. Pour the milk/egg mixture over the dry ingredients and stir with a Danish dough whisk or wooden spoon. Work in the softened butter.
3. Add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, as needed, to form a soft, sticky dough. If using whole wheat, you’ll probably need to add additional water.
4. Cover the dough and let it rest in the bowl for 30 minutes. Stretch and fold the dough. The dough should start to feel more cohesive after the rest.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, a dish towel, a plate, or my new favorite, bees wrap. Let the dough bulk ferment (rest in the bowl) at room temperature about 4-5 hours. Perform a stretch and fold after 45 minutes, then 2 more times, at the 45-min mark. After the 3rd stretch and fold, let the dough rest for 2-3 more hours. Proceed to shaping or place in the refrigerator and let it cold ferment for 24-48 hours. I put my dough in the refrigerator after 5 hours and let it cold ferment for about 36 hours or so.
6. After the cold ferment, you can let the dough warm up to room temperature, but I found it easier to work with cold. Remove the dough from the bowl, shape it into a ball, then let rest, covered with a dish towel, for about 15 minutes.
7. Divide the dough into two equal pieces for one large loaf, or 4 equal pieces for 2 smaller loaves. Roll each piece into a 14-16-inch-long rope. Twist two of the dough of ropes together.
8. Place the twisted rope(s) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Shape into rings by bringing the two ends of the rope together. Pinch them to seal and cover with a dish towel. Proof until doubled in size, about 1 1 ⁄2 hours.
9. Prepare the topping by mixing the cinnamon, sugar, almonds, and egg yolk in a bowl. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to spread the mixture evenly over the top of the ring.
10. Bake at 400F in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then turn oven down to 375F, and bake an additional 15-20 minutes (for 2 loaves), or 30-35 minutes for a large loaf, or until golden and hollow sounding when tapped underneath. Tent with foil, if necessary. Cool on a wire rack.

Notes

Adapted from Ultimate Bread by Eric Treuille and Ursula Ferrigno

• Category: Enriched Yeast Bread
• Cuisine: Italian Bread

Baking with the Bread Baking Babes

Would you like to make Ciambella Mandorlata with us this month and get your very own Buddy Badge?

Check out Aparna’s post for information on how to participate in the monthly bake.

New recipes are posted every month on the 16th. Check out our Facebook group to see the participants’ baking results during that time.

Each Babe has her interpretation of this delicious bread so please check out their posts for more inspiration:

• A Messy Kitchen – Kelly
• Karen’s Kitchen Stories – Karen
• Blog from OUR Kitchen – Elizabeth
• Judy’s Gross Eats – Judy
• My Diverse Kitchen – Aparna
• My Kitchen in Half Cups – Tanna
• Feeding My Enthusiasms – Pat
• Bread Experience – Cathy

Cottura Felice!
Cathy