Aperol Spritz Ciambella

If there’s something Italians and Italian-Americans love, it’s a good old-fashioned ciambella. It’s easy to whip up when company is coming over and it’s the perfect compliment to a nice espresso. This version was inspired by summer and my favorite cocktail, an Aperol Spritz.

Ingredients

Ciambella:

2 cups of all purpose flour

Pinch of salt

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 large eggs

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup of olive oil

1 packet of vanillia or 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup orange juice

1 tablespoon of orange zest

1 teaspoon of Aperol

Icing

1 3/4 cup of powdered sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

1 teaspoon Aperol

1 teaspoon prosecco

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F

Sift your flour, salt and baking powder into a mixing bowl

In another bowl, add your sugar, oil and butter. Mix to combine

Add both eggs into the sugar mixture and continue to mix

Add the packet of vanillia (or extract), orange juice, orange zest and aperol. Mix until everything is combined and the batter is smooth

Next, add your wet ingredients to your dry ingredients and mix until combined

Add the mixture to a buttered bundt baking pan

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

While the cake is baking you can make the icing

Add your powdered sugar, orange juice, aperol and prosecco to a bowl and mix until all of the lumps are out

If it is too liquid, add more powered sugar until you have a nice glaze that will coat the back of a spoon

Allow your ciambella to fully cool on a wire rack, transfer it to a serving platter and pour the glaze over top

Buon Appetito!

Optional: I melted down white chocolate and added a few drops of orange food coloring to it and made white chocolate stars for the top with a star cookie cutter