Italian Easter Cake (MEATS AND CHEESES!)
This is what Easter looks like at our house! Ciambella Rustica is a savory Italian cake that somehow always ends up in the center of the table every Easter. I’m not even sure if it’s an appetizer, a snack, or a main course, but it’s always there, and everyone just cuts their own piece as they go.
This isn’t a sweet cake; it’s a rustic, savory bread packed with Italian flavor: Salami, Mortadella, and Provolone. Grandmas all over Italy have their own family version of this recipe. I grew up watching my grandma “eye up” the batter until it felt right, but for this video, I’ve written everything down so you can get it perfect every time. It’s a simple one-bowl recipe. Everything goes in, it gets a quick mix, and you’re ready to bake.
If you want to bring a piece of a real Italian Easter to your table this year, this is the one.
Ingredients:
350g All-purpose flour (2¾ cups)
16g Baking powder (1 tbsp)
3 Eggs
120g Ricotta (½ cup)
120ml Milk (½ cup)
60g Extra virgin olive oil (¼ cup)
30g Parmigiano Reggiano (⅓ cup)
140g Salami, cubed (1 cup)
140g Mortadella, cubed (1 cup)
100g Provolone, cubed ( ¾ cup)
Directions:
1. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.
2. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs for about 1 minute until slightly foamy. Add the ricotta, milk, and olive oil; whisk until smooth.
3. Fold in the flour mixture until a thick, golden batter forms.
4. Toss in your cubed salami, mortadella, provolone, and Parmigiano.
5. Grease a bundt pan with olive oil. Pour in the batter and level the top. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 35–40 minutes until golden brown.
⭐ Video Chapters
0:00 The Centerpiece of Italian Easter
1:00 The Flavors of the Cake
1:38 Whisking the eggs
2:00 Adding the rest of the wet ingredients
2:17 Prepping the dry ingredients
3:25 Adding in the Real Flavor
3:41 Mixing the Dough
4:04 Prepping the Bundt Pan
4:28 Spread the Batter
5:05 Into the Oven
5:18 Previewing and Removing from Pan
6:09 Slicing into it
6:58 Tasting and Giovanni “It’s Just There!”
Why You’ll Love This Recipe:
✅ The Ultimate All-Day Cake: In Italy, we eat this for breakfast, as a snack, or take it on a picnic. It’s the dish that never leaves the table.
✅ Incredible Texture: The ricotta is the secret, it keeps the cake soft and moist for days. Every bite is packed with salami, mortadella, and melted provolone.
✅ Zero Stress: Unlike traditional Easter breads, there’s no yeast and no waiting for dough to rise. It’s a simple one-bowl mix that anyone can do.
Comment Below:
Does your family have a specific dish that has to be on the table for it to feel like a holiday? Whether it’s this Ciambella or something totally different, I want to hear your traditions! 👇🇮🇹
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#easter #easyrecipes #italianfood
34 Comments
I have to try this 😮 everything I’ve made off your channel so far for my family has been a hit ❤
What would you advise for someone who's sensitive to eggs (I.E. one is fine, two's ok, three and we might be getting too close to a reaction)
Hi Giovanni, my dad's name was Giovanni and also my 9 year old great nephew's name lol…,, I've never heard of this savoury cake for Easter 😮 I wonder if that would work with veggies? in my Sicilian family my mum used to make "cuddura cu l'uova" biscuits with a hard boiled egg on top and hundred and thousands sprinkled on top … They were shaped like a nest or dove etc. Have you ever tried them?? ❤from Australia ❤
Wow! Memory unlocked lol my dads Aunt made an Easter pie she called calzone. If memory serves me well, I think she made hers in a sheet pan and then was sliced in squares.
Oh, that’s a dangerous one — I’d be eating it nonstop until it was all gone and I’m weighing 200 lbs 😃
Your pie looks lovely. In my Neapolitan family it's "Pizza Gane" which I didn't know was pizza piene until I took Italian in high school. 😃
We call this pizza rustica, very similar. My Aunt would put salami, sopresata, cheeses and dry sausage. I love how simply you prepared this. Now I've got to make it. Great as an appetizer or snack. Bonna Pasqua Giovanni e la tuta famiglia. PS…Now you must make the sweet granna pie. That's a great desert and I dont know how??
Very interesting recipe. I'd use a spring-form Savarin tin.
But why does someone with a perfectly good version of an Italian accent suddenly mis-pronounce Provolone?
My mother made something very similar every year she called it Easter pie. Your cooking reminds me so much of my mother’s cooking. Today March 19th would be her 102 birthday. She was named Josephine in honor of St. Joseph’s day. Buona San Giuseppe.
This is my Nonna's cake tooooo ❤I make it twice a year ❤❤❤❤❤❤great job babe
Easy to make? You're tripping. It's easier and cheaper to buy.
Your channel brings back memories for me. Poor man feasts that our generational Italian women kept the household fed and fed well. I'm sure every culture back then had similar creative dishes. Italians knew how to utilize every part of an animal. Good for side dishes and/or a tasty antipasto, or a small serving – seconds always allowed! Old school, NYC style recipes that were made by Nana in the home (basements, bedrooms, etc) Every part of the house back then was used to cure, store and save homemade ingredients. My childhood home had 4 floors with 3 full kitchens:1: the Sunday Red Lead with pork neck bones (marrow, collagen), evolved today into including all the gravy meats. 2: Braciole rolled with the hardboiled egg. 3: Ciccioli – the flavoring of a polenta dish! 4: Trippa soup with mint on Fridays during Lent. 5: Cotechino sausages with lentils. 6: Crudo (anchovies/sardines ~ salted fish. 7: Arancini made with leftover rice. 8: Sopresatta. 9: Polenta with fried eggs and gorgonzola cheese. 10: 3-day to make Bacala. 11: Ribollita , a beautiful Christmas Eve soup dish. 12: kitchen sink hand pulled mozzarella and bathtub made Ricotta. 13: Porchetta. this was a what a real backyard BBQ Roast was meant to be. Lastly, Zabaglione desert – BEAUTIFUL with the marsala wine.
Every meal served with Vino de Casa (white, red, and a vermouth).
Alot of memories for me here. I forgot about this particular meal.
So this is TOTTALLY OFF. it’s not supposed to be like a cake 😆🙄🙄🙄. 😮. It’s supposed to be FILLED. with ricotta salami eggs and some fat !!
Yea, I've got to try this!
That's a beautiful Easter cake! Wish I could make one but I have to be mostly gluten free unfortunately.
my Polish mother-in-law isthe best cook I've ever known. She has "quality control" in her bones. I had to learn to make pierogi so as to carry on the tradition as they are required for every holiday. She made her own farmer's cheese so the potato/cheese mixture had the correct "tang". I really admire her for her many skills.
Would make a meal in itself
OHHHH – EASTER bread! I thought it said, CHESTER bread! Never mind.
Looks delicious and definitely going to make it😊Following from South Africa Western Cape 😊
Thank you Giovanni! What a yummy Easter cake. It is very sweet seeing you and your wife together. Thanks for the "self-rising flour" tip – never realized that before and never looked it up :). I wonder how you actually learned these recipes from your grandmother. Or, perhaps that is too personal to ask. Stay well, keep cooking. Peace.
Lovely couple! She’s beautiful!! 💐💕👸🏻💕💐
My family used to call it Easter bread.
Looks delicious! We had it a different way but yours looks wonderful!
❤
I am so sick of these freaking cooks who can't say the measurements as they go along.
Mom used to make this. When we visited our cousins in Liguria, they showed us how to make a version with rice, greens, cheese and meat.
OMG
Che buono!
such memories!! my grandfather [with mom and me as helpers] made this every Easter, though his was not as cakey — maybe he used more ricotta and eggs? — it was like lead weight! he'd make a huge "spare tire" one to keep in the house and several smaller ones to give away. we also made the grain pie. wish I could go back to that time. thanks for this tasty reminder!
My Italian mama Matilde made a version of this at Easter. It was like a big calzone, using bread dough and a filling made of eggs, cheese, Italian sausage, & prosciutto.
I would use a serrated knife a bread knife to cut it.
My Italian mother made something similar at Easter, except it was a pie, with meat and cheese, no flour. She would make a sweet cheesecake, (pizza dulca), and a savory one with meat, similar to what you made. I only ate the sweet one when i was a kid too. 😊
Haha, I knew this dish was coming with the Easter Bunny coming to town! I make this every year AFTER Easter with the leftover charcuterie and cheese board fixings. All the meats, cheeses, stuffed cherry peppers, olives, sometimes nuts. This is a good one!
Your way of making this Rustica is so much easier. I have a recipe that could feed an army! The pan you used we call a tube pan. ❤️🇮🇹
Definitely trying 😊
My dad mad Easter Bread.