Start Your Day the Brazilian Way With a Cake

You might think that cornbread is the best that cornmeal has to offer us in terms of baking—it’s strong, grainy, and goes great with chili—but this crunchy piece of corn has a sweet side to it that we’d like. show you. (And we’re not talking about sweet cornbread, abomination.) This dish deviates from bread and immediately turns into a cake. It’s called “bolo de fubá com quiejo” and will become your new favorite breakfast piece. (Did I mention it’s made with parmesan cheese?)

Bolo de fubá com quiejo is a Brazilian treat that translates into English as “corn cheese pie”. Bolos are very popular for breakfast in Brazil and it only took me one short visit to make these morning cakes popular with me too. This cornmeal pie is a relative of American cornbread, but don’t expect a dry, savory bread with noticeable bits of cornmeal to get stuck in your molars. Instead, you get fluffy, tender crumbs with a subtle sweetness. The cornmeal in this pie has a buttery milky flavor and pairs perfectly with a cup of strong coffee.

The regular bolo de fuba is fine, but I fell in love with the “com queijo” (with cheese) version. This sweet corn pie is drenched in salty Parmesan cheese without feeling overly salty or heavy. The chunks of aged umami cheese spread throughout the dough and give it a rich milky flavor, firm texture and a round buttery finish. This is a damn good cake.

Brazilian bolo is traditionally baked in a tubular or flat-handled pan, but my version below has been scaled down to the size of a single loaf. I just don’t cook the cake fast enough, but you can always double the recipe if you want an impressive bunt. Just be aware that the baking time will be longer for a double batch.

There are two varieties of bolo dough I’ve come across, one style uses beaten egg whites to lighten the dough, and the other uses only baking powder. Both make delicious cakes, the former requiring extra steps for more aerated results, while the latter requires faster and less maintenance but with a lower final product height. The recipe below refers to a type of baking powder.

Place all dry ingredients and grated parmesan cheese in a medium bowl. Whisk wet ingredients together in a measuring cup. Pour wet ingredients into dry mixture and beat until combined. Let the dough rest for 10 minutes to allow the cornmeal to absorb some of the liquid. Pour the batter into a baking dish lined with parchment and bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes. The cake should be golden brown and springy when you touch the center. Enjoy a breakfast slice sprinkled with powdered sugar, or take Brasileños’s cue and drizzle with sweetened condensed milk.

Bolo de Fuba com Quiejo

Ingredients:

• 1 cup fine cornmeal
• ½ cup flour
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
• ⅓ cup butter
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 eggs
• ½ teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter an eight-by-four inch mold and line it with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, mix cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and parmesan cheese. In a large measuring cup, whisk butter, buttermilk, eggs and salt. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl and mix well. Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes. Pour into prepared bread pan and bake at 350°F for 40-45 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with powdered sugar or drizzled with condensed milk.