Almost Ciambellone: Italian pound cake with kefir fermented wheat
This is an “almost ciambellone” because the typical Italian pound cake is baked in a round mold and I did not have one at hand. Ciambellone in fact means large ciambella, which is, a ring-shaped cake.
As anticipated, my experiments aimed at making grains more digestible continue. So this time I made a buttermilk ciambellone after having fermented the flour in kefir overnight. To make the batter fluffier, I substituted part of the wheat flour with rice and almond flour, which I added last minute (rice and almonds are far more digestible than wheat and do not need fermentation).
I may have invented a winning technique here, because the resulting cake raised just wonderfully and was incredibly moist and tasty. (SCROLL DOWN FOR THE RECIPE)
CIAMBELLONE WITH KEFIR FERMENTED WHEAT
Fermented flour
200 g (1 and 1/2 cups + 2 tbsp) all-purpose wheat flour
210 g (4/5 cup + 1 tbsp) kefir
Final batter
All the ferment
3 eggs
80 g (1/3 cup) cold pressed vegetable oil (I use 1/2 olive and 1/2 canola oil)
zest of 1 organic lemon
50 g (1/2 cup + 1 tbsp) rice flour
30 g (1/4 cup) almond flour
170 gr (3/4 cup) granulated sugar (I used organic raw sugar, coconut palm sugar works fine too)
1 and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
small pinch of salt
The night before baking, add the kefir to the wheat flour and combine well. Put in a tightly closed container and let rest in a warm spot of your kitchen overnight (i.e. for 12 hours, but 24 hours work fine too). My warm spot was the shelf over the sink light, with the light turned on.
The morning (or the evening) of the day after, preheat the oven to 180 degrees (Celsius, 356 Fahrenheit) and coat with butter a small bread pan (or a small ring-shaped baking mold). Pour the fermented flour in a large bowl together with ALL the other ingredients. Quickly mix, just enough to incorporate the other ingredients in the fermented flour. It will look sticky in the beginning but it will loosen up. Don’t over mix, otherwise gluten will develop. Pour the batter in the greased pan and bake for 45-50 minutes.
Fermented flour looks kind of cute, doesn’t it?
It looks sticky in the beginning
But it will loosen up and turn into a smooth batter
CONSIDERATIONS: Gals (and guys) if you have read to this point you must have noticed the main thing in all this… it’s fun! I don’t know about you, but to me there is a weird excitement in going to sleep knowing that something is fermenting in the kitchen. And guess what’s the first thing to do in the morning? Checking the ferment. I mean, the word itself, ferment, recalls us of something bubbling and happy, like butterflies in our stomach. Alright, I admit it: I am in love with my ferments. And it’s almost spring…
Barbara Elisi
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Ciao Barbara,
bello e sicuramente buono il ciambellone ( rettangolare……) anche io oggi mi sono fatto un dolcetto…….vai a sbirciare e sapimi dire
……ed ora mi sono appena sfornato un Miche da 1,850 Kg
Ciao
Michele
http://freebakery.blogspot.it/
Gorgeous. I love the photos of the batter. I’m also pretty in love with ferments – last night I literally couldn’t sleep because I had hot cross buns fermenting away in the cold garage…!
hot-cross buns fermenting in the garage??? you are my type of woman honey 🙂
😉
fabuleux! (i love the new page design!)
What an extraordinary bread Barbara! I love it and I love your new blog design and name. Have a lovely week!
il ciambellone plumkettato… li faccio spesso anch’io questi movimenti di forma!
con la fermentazione…. fa ancora freddo da te? qui oggi un vento della miseria!
baci
Sandra
Interesting procedure, and I wholeheartedly agree to your comments on the excitement about the happily bubbling ferment. I made once a levain from fermenting jam (that I was about to throw out) and it made a wonderful bread: http://hanseata.blogspot.com/2012/10/pain-au-levain-made-from-jam.html
A very beautiful cake. I love the use of kefir.
What a great idea to let flour and kefir ferment! I’ll try this method the next time I make something with kefir. Your almost ciambellone looks really nice.
P.S. I recently took a photo of the top of my refrigerator for a future post: it’s my fermentation corner 😉
What an intriguing recipe. I can’t wait to try this fermenting technique. I love anything with yogurt or kefir, so I know it will be a winner. I’m sure the lemon zest and almond flavors work their magic too…can’t wait to give this a try!
cambiato look? What a wonderful cake!
Wow, you’re quite a pro! Fermenting the flour in kefir? That sounds too complicated for my simplistic mind. The pound cake is gorgeous, the color of the crust is out of this world!
hi, just to check, you’re talking about milk kefir right? In a way, it reminds me of preparing sourdough pancakes—fermenting part of the batter the night before, then adding the other elements and leavening agent just before baking. I must make this! thanks 😉
yes, milk kefir! absolutely, the concept is the same of the sourdough pancakes. in this case all the wheat is fermented and the only flours added last minute are from fruit (almonds) or rice, flours which should be much more digestible and do not need fermentation much. let me know how you like it! ciao
Hi, I am researching on the internet to find an answer to my question and came upon your recipe. I wonder why can’t you just put all the ingredients together and let the dough sit overnight in the fridge??
Is the seperation (first flour and liquid), then everything else necessary?
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