Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gplain flour
- 150 gsugar
- 150 mldry white wine
- 150 mlolive oil
- 1 tbspaniseed
- ½ tspsalt
- 1 tspbaking powder, optional
To finish
- granulated sugar, for rolling
To serve
- a glass of the same wine
Directions
- Mix the flour with the sugar, aniseed, salt and baking powder.
- Pour in the wine and the olive oil together and bring it into a soft, oily dough, kneading only briefly.
- The proportions are the whole recipe: equal volumes of wine and oil, roughly a glass of each. Country cooks in Lazio measure it in glasses rather than on scales, and it works perfectly well.
- Rest the dough for 20 minutes.
- Take pieces the size of a walnut and roll each into a rope about 10 cm long and 1 cm thick.
- Dip one side of each rope into granulated sugar, then join the ends into a small ring with the sugared side facing outward.
- Set them sugar side up on lined trays, spaced apart.
- Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and hard.
- Cool completely. They should be genuinely crunchy, hard enough that you would not much want one without a glass in your other hand.
- Serve at the end of a meal, dunked in the same wine they were made with.
- They keep for weeks in a tin, which is exactly what a country biscuit made at harvest time was for.
Technique
- Made with the harvest’s own wine and its own olive oil, which is why every version tastes slightly different.
- Hard is correct. A soft ciambellina has been underbaked and will not keep.
- No eggs and no butter, which is also why they last.
Substitutions
- Red wine in place of white, which gives a darker and slightly fruitier biscuit.
- Fennel seed instead of aniseed.
Variations
- Made with red wine, common further south in Lazio.
- With a little grated lemon zest.
- Rolled thinner and baked longer for an even harder biscuit.
History
A Lazio country biscuit made with the harvest’s own wine and olive oil, kept for weeks.
Frequently asked questions
What is Ciambelline al vino?
Ciambelline al vino is a dessert from Vatican City: small crunchy wine and anise rings, dunked in a glass at the end of a meal. A Lazio country biscuit made with the harvest’s own wine and olive oil, kept for weeks.
How long does Ciambelline al vino take to make?
Ciambelline al vino takes 25 min plus 20 min resting of preparation and 25 min of cooking. The recipe makes 40 rings. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Ciambelline al vino?
Yes, within limits. Red wine in place of white, which gives a darker and slightly fruitier biscuit. Fennel seed instead of aniseed.
What is the most important thing to get right in Ciambelline al vino?
The proportions are the whole recipe: equal volumes of wine and oil, roughly a glass of each. Country cooks in Lazio measure it in glasses rather than on scales, and it works perfectly well.
