Country ring cake (ciambella rustica)

The ciambella rustica is a simple country cake made throughout Italy. It tends to be quite dry and so is often accompanied by a glass of white wine

Italian ring cake
Makes
 one 26-cm cake
Preparation time 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 minutes

Ingredients:

• 400g self-raising flour

• 180g caster sugar

• 160g unsalted butter at room temperature

• 3 free-range eggs

• 150ml tepid milk

• grated zest of 1 lemon

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions:

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas Mark 4. Place all the ingredients into a large bowl and whisk together well. Grease and dust a ring-shaped baking tin with flour, then pour in the cake mix. Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until cooked. If you wish, you can decorate the top of the cake with sugar sprinkles or chocolate drops; simply sprinkle these on top of the cake before baking.

Find more Italian-inspired recipes here