Gianduja and hazelnut soft ciambella cake

To make it, you need gianduiotti and chopped hazelnuts, as well as the typical ingredients needed for a ciambella, i.e. flour, butter, eggs, sugar, baking powder and a pinch of salt. The ingredients listed below allow you to make a ciambella for 6 people, which you can bake in the oven or an air fryer. If you decide to use an air fryer, remember to check the maximum size of the pan and, if necessary, divide the dough to make two separate, smaller ring cakes. 

The secret to a perfect cake is the ingredients selected, which must be of the highest quality, especially the hazelnuts and gianduiotti. The latter, in particular, are key to giving this sweet treat its delicious flavour, so you should use high-quality products like gianduiotti chocolates from Venchi, a Piedmont-based company famous throughout the world for its chocolate.

 

Gianduja and hazelnut ring cake recipe

Ingredients 

• 75 g Gianduiotti  

• 25 g chopped hazelnuts 

• 125 g butter 

• 150 g 00 flour 

• 150 g sugar 

• 2 eggs 

• ½ sachet of baking powder 

• salt 

 

To decorate

• Gianduiotti  

• whole or chopped hazelnuts

 

Gianduja and hazelnut ring cake cooking process 

1. Take a bowl and put the butter and chopped gianduiotti in it, then slowly melt them over a bain-marie. 

2. Whisk the eggs together with the sugar using an electric whisk, then add the previously sifted flour a little at a time and mix it in with a wooden spoon, making sure you remove all the lumps. 

3. Add the warm, melted butter and chocolate, sifted baking powder and chopped hazelnuts to the mixture. 

4. Grease and flour a ring mould 22 cm in diameter, or a size that will fit in your air fryer, and pour the mixture in. 

5. To bake, preheat your oven to 180°C, then bake for 45 minutes. 

6. If you’d prefer to use an air fryer, bake the ciambella at 160°C for 25 minutes by placing the pan in the basket or on the grill, depending on which model you have. 

7. Before removing the ciambella from the oven, check it's cooked with a toothpick and, if the mixture is still wet, let it cook for a few minutes longer. Remember that air-fryer cooking times vary depending on the model, so keep an eye on it to prevent it from burning. 

8. After it's baked, leave the ciambella to cool well before placing it on a tray and decorating it. 

9. When decorating, you can simply use whole gianduiotti and hazelnuts, or, alternatively, melt some more gianduiotti and pour the melted chocolate over the ciambella, then sprinkle with some chopped hazelnuts and, if you like, put some whole gianduiotti on top. 

 

Useful tips to make your ring cake even tastier 

If you’d like to make a two-coloured ciambella, add the chocolate to half of the mixture only and alternate the layers in your mould, making sure you level off each layer before pouring on the next one. To help the ciambella rise and prevent it from being chewy, remove the butter and eggs from the fridge at least one hour before you start making the dough. You can also decorate the surface of the cake with a sprinkling of icing sugar.