Super Soft Carnival Ring Cake with cinnamon, with colorful sprinkles

Super soft Carnival ring cake with cinnamon, a festive, colorful, and cheerful dessert, rich in colorful sprinkles, to celebrate with joy with both kids and adults.

The recipe for my Carnival Ring Cake is very easy and can be prepared in a few minutes, perfect for immediately getting into the joyful atmosphere of Carnival, especially if you don’t have time to fry various fritters and castagnole.

The texture of this cinnamon-scented Ring Cake is moist and soft and airy and I’m sure you’ll make it all year round, maybe with the addition of apples or chocolate chips.

This soft and moist Carnival ring cake is ideal for parties and children’s Carnival celebrations, but it’s also perfect for a homemade breakfast or snack: it stays soft for days, has a fine and delicate crumb and a fondant surface, without a hard crust.

If you’re looking for more sweet and savory recipes for the Carnival and Fat Tuesday Menu, click on my Special: “Must-try Recipes for Carnival“.

Ingredients for the Super Soft Carnival Ring Cake

4 cups all-purpose flour (I use Caputo pastry flour, sifted)
1 1/2 cups extra fine sugar (I use Zefiro by Eridiana)
5 eggs (whole)
6 1/3 oz butter (melted in a bain-marie)
1 1/3 cups whole milk
4 tsp baking powder
4 tsp ground cinnamon (sifted)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 lemon zest (grated)
4 tsp colorful sprinkles (optional)
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 oz colorful sprinkles
1 egg white
2 tbsp granulated sugar

Tools for the Super Soft Carnival Ring Cake

Food Scale
Saucepan for bain-marie
Stand Mixer Kenwood 1200 W power and dual bowl
Bundt Pan 12 inch diameter, 3 inch height

Steps for the Super Soft Carnival Ring Cake

Let me emphasize that the ingredients must all be at room temperature, particularly the eggs.

Melt the butter in a bain-marie and let it cool completely.
Sift the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, and cinnamon.
Pour the whole eggs and extra fine sugar into the bowl of the stand mixer with a whisk attachment (you can also use an electric beater or work the batter with a hand whisk).
Beat the eggs and fine sugar at medium speed for 2 minutes, then increase to the highest allowed speed (with stand mixer, maximum speed 6, not above) and continue for 8–15 minutes, until you obtain a mixture that “writes” when lifting the whisk, very voluminous, it should almost triple in volume.
Lower the speed and incorporate the melted butter in a thin stream, working slowly at low speed for a few seconds (with stand mixer: max speed 2 for about 40 seconds) without deflating the mass.
Also add the vanilla extract, grated lemon zest, and salt.
Mix briefly, just to combine (speed 1 for 10 seconds).
At this point, add the sifted dry mixture (flour, baking powder, and cinnamon) alternating with the milk, in 2–3 additions, working at low speed (speed 1 for 1 minute, final turns better directly by hand, with a spatula).
The mixture should be mixed minimally, just long enough to become smooth and homogeneous and in any case, in total it should not be worked for more than 20 minutes.
If you like, you can also add (by hand) small sprinkles inside the mixture to make the ring cake even more festive, but it’s optional.
Grease well and flour a bundt pan with a 12 inch diameter and 3 inch height.
Pour the batter and gently level the surface.
Lightly brush the top of the batter with lightly beaten egg white.
Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 1/2 oz of colorful sprinkles (in Naples they are also called “diavolilli”).
Bake in a static oven at 340°F for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 320°F and continue baking for about 40–45 minutes (always perform the toothpick test).
If it darkens too much, cover the ring cake with foil in the last minutes.
Take the Carnival ring cake out of the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10–15 minutes.
Then, unmold it and flip it with the sprinkle side up onto a cake plate.

Notes and Tips

If you want an even more “glazed” effect, but still soft and fondant:
take a saucepan and gently heat: 2 tablespoons of powdered sugar, with 1 tablespoon of milk. Mix everything and brush over the still warm cake.

Shopping Tips!!!

To work doughs effortlessly, I use the Kenwood Titanium Chef Baker stand mixer, with dual bowl (5L and 3.5L) and 1200 W of power, integrated scale.

For melting ingredients in a bain-marie, I always use this specific double boiler, very useful in the kitchen (for melting butter, chocolate, etc).

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FAQ (Questions and Answers)

Secrets to Achieve a Perfect Ring Cake: Tall, Soft, and Moist
Ingredients must be at room temperature, especially the eggs.
The flour used should be all-purpose with a low strength index (W) (W = 180–220), if W is high the crumb becomes chewy and with at least 8–10% protein, so the crumb remains soft, airy, and moist and the cake rises in height and doesn’t collapse.
The eggs and sugar must be beaten for at least 15 minutes: the mixture should almost triple in volume and “write” when lifting the whisk.
Once you have the whipped mixture, other ingredients should be added slowly at minimum speed, just mixed in and not whipped, particularly flour and milk should be alternated in at least 2-3 additions, preferably added by hand, to avoid deflating the mass.
For a batch with 4 cups of flour, for a 12 inch diameter bundt pan, the ring cake batter should be worked, in total, for a maximum of 20 minutes.
The ring cake batter should incorporate air, only initially, with the egg and sugar whipping, after – the rest of the ingredients – should be mixed gently, at low speed (or by hand) and for a short time.
After whipping the eggs and sugar, other ingredients must be added in a short time and at low speed (speed 1 or by hand).
It’s a mistake to work the entire batter at high speed and for a long time “for safety” that it leavens well and doesn’t deflate.
The baking of the perfect ring cake must be slow.

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Super Soft Carnival Ring Cake