Ring Cake (Italian Ciambella Romagnola)

Ciambella is a traditional Italian ring cake that is flavoured with lemon zest, and sometimes a sweet, fruity liqueur. For holidays such as Christmas or Easter, ciambella is usually made from a firm dough that is braided and shaped into a ring, but there is also a smaller, doughnut version which is not prepared so often. Regardless of its size, ciambella must be ring-shaped. It consists of flour, butter, sugar, eggs, milk, and baking soda in its basic variety. Light and airy, ciambella pairs well with warm milk, coffee, and dessert wines. Due to its popularity, there are numerous versions of ciambella throughout Italy, and at least one type of ciambella can be found in almost every Italian region.

2 cups Italian "00" flour or all-purpose, unbleached
2 tsp. baking powder
1 pinch sea salt
1-2 lemon, freshly zested
⅔ cup butter, melted
1 cup Monk Fruit Sweetener with Erythritol (Granular)
4 eggs, separated
1 cup warm milk
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
pearl sugar, to sprinkle on top before baking

Butter and flour a tube pan (or spray generously with baking spray-my preferred method for its ease).

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C/155°C fan, Gas Mark 3).

Melt the butter and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest; set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl, beat the egg whites until white and form soft peaks

In a large mixing bowl, add the sugar. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time.

On medium speed, mix in about ½ cup of the flour mixture to the egg and sugar mixture; beat about one minute. Beat in another ½ cup of the flour mixture and slowly add in the melted butter; beat until combined (about 1 more minute). Stop the mixture to scrape the sides of the mixing bowl with a spatula when needed.

On medium speed, mix in ½ of the milk and the vanilla followed by another ½ cup of the flour mixture until combined (about 1 minutscraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Mix in the rest of the milk followed by the rest of the flour mixture.

Stir in about ⅓ of the egg whites into the batter. Fold in the rest of the egg whites. Bring the batter from the bottom of the bowl over the egg whites and keep turning the bowl around until it is all folded together.

Pour the batter into your prepared tube pan and even out the top of the batter with yoru spatula; tap pan carefully on your counter to level out the batter.

Sprinkle on the pearl sugar (decorators sugaand bake 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean. Let cool and then remove the bottom of the pan and place on your serving plate.

Makes 1 (10") Bundt cake or 10-12 servings.