Brazilian cheesebread

When I learnt about Waiter Waiter There is Something in my Bread, the event organized by Spitton Extra I thought of so many different recipes. I read various different books that I have but without being able to make up my mind. It was only with the help of my dear friend Pat that I ended up deciding to post this recipe here which is so close to my heart.

Brazilian cheese bread is such a popular recipe in Brazil. It spans all the five regions in which the country is divided and no matter your background or where you come from you are very likely to be fond of it. Obviously there will be some who don’t.

There are many different recipes and I personally baked using a different one for a very long time until last year when I came across this recipe with potato in the dough. It fascinated me.

The main flour for cheese bread is tapioca flour (or potato starch in some countries). There are two types of tapioca flour in Brazil: a) the sweet or fresh starch, and b) the sour starch. The latter has a more acid taste than the former. It has all to do with the fermentation process of the cassava juice. In some parts of Brazil you only find one of the types. Luckily in London I find both of them and sometimes I have halfof the tapioca flour amount of the sweet one and the other half with the sour flour. I personaly believe that the sour flour gives a nice crust. Where the sweet one is odourless, the sour one is rather 'acid'( slightly smelly).

Melissa from The Traveller’s lunch box wrote a very good article about our national treasure – as a Brazilian I was marvelled by her accuracy of the facts.

The recipe below can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 days but it cannot be frozen. I tend to keep it in a sealed container. And bake medium portions at a time. The time in the oven tends to be around 15 minutes at least. The cheese bread will be nice and round(ish). If they are not left in the oven for the correct amount of time they will deflate as you remove them.

You can read more about it in an article I published at my Tapiocaflour blog. Please note that the cup measures in that article are for a 200ml equivalent cup – it applies to milk and vegetable oil amount.

Brazilian cheesebread - another variation

Approximately 30 units

140g tapioca flour ( tapioca starch)

300g cooked and mashed potato

100g grated parmesan cheese ( I tend to add a wee bit more)

1 tablespoon butter ( approx 15g)

1 egg

Put the tapioca flour and the mashed potato in a bowl and mix with your hands. Then add the milk and do the same. The next step will be to add the oil. The cheese is added after the oil is well incorporated into the mixture. Finally, bet the eggs lightly and then add them to the bowl. Here I prefer to mix everything with a woden spoon first, and then use my hands towards the end to ensure that the mixture is even. The mixture will be ready when it no longer stick to your fingers.

Make small balls and put then on a baking tray – no need to grease the tray. You can also freeze some of the recipe and bake the cheesebread from frozen.

Preheat the oven to medium temperature – 180oC , for about 15min and bake the cheesebread rolls until they become golden.