Italian Breakfast Cake, a delicious Ciambella made with Mascarpone and Chocolate Chips, Â the perfect Breakfast, Snack or Dessert Cake.
I hate wasting food, as I am sure most of us do. Â I think living in Italy made me more conscious of that.
When I first came to Italy my in-laws had a couple of pigs and some chickens.  So naturally any leftovers went to the pigs.  Any old bread and wilted lettuce leaves went to the chickens.
Unfortunately no more pigs although my brother-in-law has chickens (nothing like fresh eggs, thank you brother-in-law)!
So when I saw the leftover Mascarpone in the fridge from my Lemon Tiramisu Cake, I new I had to make something. Â And that something was this Italian Breakfast Cake.
I can remember when we first got married and my mother-in-law made her Sponge Cake, well the Italian was super excited, “something I can dunk in my café latte in morning”.
“Try it, it’s delicious, ask my Mom for the recipe”. Â Thinking it was something truly amazing, I took a piece and realized it was probably one of the driest cakes I have ever tried. Â That is probably the reason tiramisu was created. Â “We have to moisten the damn cake”.
Yes Italians tend to like drier cakes and yes they even eat cake in the morning, sounds good to me.
For them the simple bundt cake known as a”Ciambella or Ciambellone” (Donut / Big Donut)sprinkled with Powdered sugar,  is the perfect addition to a café, espresso or even cafe latte.
Believe me in over 20 years I have tried a few drier than the Sahara-Desert-Italian-Cakes, hard to swallow when you only have a teeny weeny espresso.
But I have to say this Italian Breakfast Cake with Mascarpone and Chocolate Chips is not what I would consider  a dry Italian Cake.
Italian Breakfast Cake with Mascarpone and Chocolate Chips
My Italian Fresh Cream Lemon Cake is one my family’s favourites and yes a little on the dry side. Although for us we don’t consider it dry either.
So when I get comments saying “OMG it’s so dry”, my response should be … 1.  You have no idea!  and 2. Maybe a little, but it’s Italian.
Happy Mother’s Day, and why not share a slice and a cup of coffee with Mom. Enjoy!
Other Delicious Breakfast Cakes You may enjoy.
Italian Glazed Mandarin Orange Almond Cake
Italian Breakfast Cake with Mascarpone and Chocolate Chips
Ingredients
- 2 1/4 cups + 1 tablespoon flour (300 grams)
- 1 cup corn starch (100 grams)
- 3 eggs (room temperature)
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 2/3 cup + 3 tablespoons mascarpone (200 grams)
- 3/4 cup + 2 1/2 tablespoons milk (200 grams)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/3 cup butter melted (cooled)** (70 grams)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup mini dark chocolate chips (100 grams)
- 1 pinch salt
**If you using unsalted butter use 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 340°F (175°C), grease and flour well a 10 inch (26 centimeter) bundt pan.
- In a large bowl beat together eggs and sugar until pale and creamy, add mascarpone and combine, add vanilla, milk and melted butter and beat.
- In a medium bowl whisk together flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt.
- Fold flour mixture into wet mixture until combined well, fold in chocolate chips. Spoon into prepared bundt pan and bake for approximately 45-50 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean and dry. Let cool completely, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Recipe Adapted from Il Cucchiaio D’ArgentoÂ
Angie says
what if i dont have a bundt pan would any other pan work
Rosemary says
Hi Angie, Im sure it would work with a 9 inch round cake pan. Let me know how it goes.
TERESA says
Hi Rosemary! I’m an Italo-Australian woman living in Milan. I love your blog and have made quite a few of your recipes. Yesteeray I made this cake with the addition of finely chopped walnuts in place of the chocolate chips. I reduced the flour to 200 g and added 100 g of walnuts and it turned out beautifully moist and delicious. I too think that a bit more sugar wouldn’t hurt but it was gobbled up just the same! Keep the recipes coming.
Rosemary says
Hi Teresa, thanks so much, so glad everyone liked it. I went to Milan once with my daughter, it’s a beautiful city.
TERESA says
Hi Rosemary, I forgot to mention that I also added two tablespoons of instant coffee to the milk that I warmed up. Walnut and coffee is one of my favourite combinations after cinnamon.
Mil says
Hi Rosemary I made this the other day and it tasted great to me but my daughter’s have a sweet tooth and would like it a bit sweeter so next time I will add more sugar to satisfy their sweet tooth and add a ganache. I on the other hand loved it just as it is.
Thanks for sharing.
Mil
Rosemary says
Hi Mil, thanks, yes Italian cake are usually on the not so sweet side. Let me know how it goes with the extra sugar. 🙂
Rita C. says
Hi, I am no baker but I need a good ciambellone for Christmas Eve.
This one seems easy enough for me, my only question is regarding the butter.
Does the recipe call for salted or unsalted?
Grazie!
Rosemary says
Hi Rita, all my recipes use salted butter because I can never find unsalted in Italy (thanks, I just updated the recipe to show that). Hope that helps and you enjoy it. Merry Christmas.
Rona Macias says
I made it last night in a bundt pan and ate two slices this morning. This is perfection on a plate, I even imagined I was standing at an espresso cafe in Lucca while enjoying its dense texture and not too sweet taste. The chocolate bits elevate this cake to a higher level without interfering with the overall smooth, luscious “mouth feel”. Thank you for including gram measurements, I always use this option when available because it guarantees an excellent outcome. Your blog is my favorite, I appreciate the love and care you put into it for us!
Rosemary says
Hi Rona, thanks so much, I am so happy that you enjoy my blog and yes I try to give it my everything. You made my day, week and year. Have a wonderful weekend.
Linda says
I am looking forward to try this breakfast cake this week-end.
Thank you very much, it looks yummy!!
Rosemary says
Hi Linda, thanks hope you enjoy it. Have a great weekend.
Pat says
Would you mind sharing information about the beautiful pan you used? Thanks!
Rosemary says
Hi Pat thanks, I got it from either Williams Sonoma or Crate and Barrel it’s the smaller bundt pan. I love it.
Suzanne says
Everyone loved it! I ran out of milk and used rice milk, it turned out perfectly.
Rosemary says
Thanks Suzanne so glad everyone loved it. Thanks for letting me know about the rice milk.
Christie says
This is a gorgeous cake and one I would be happy to eat in the morning with a big cup of espresso.
Rosemary says
Hi Christie, thanks, have a great week.