Pão de queijo

At Fair Cake, we love cake… we love all things cake! Occasionally though, you stumble across a savoury, crisp on the outside gooey on the inside baked ball of deliciousness and its so hard to keep it to yourself.

Pão de queijo does that to me. I first tasted it at a Brazilian restaurant in London. It was interesting to say the least. And then in 2018 when we were in Brazil … aah, remember those days when we could travel… I digress. Pão de queijo, or simply put, cheese bread, is a very popular snack in Brazil and its eaten even at breakfast. So of course, I had it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack time, with my Caiprinha and basically whenever I could lay my hands on one.

These wonderful little parcels of cheesy goodness are so easy to make and are perfect for Coeliacs because these are gluten free. Pão de queijo is made using tapioca flour which is very widely  used in Brazilian food.  They are great for cheese lovers too because …well the name gives it away, it’s cheese bread.

There are several recipes online and I’m on a mission to find the best one. Today I tried a recipe by Hilah Johnson. The batter was very runny so I had to leave it in the fridge for a while to thicken. Despite doing this, I couldn’t just place the balls on a baking sheet and eventually used a muffin tray. Having said that, once baked they did turn out delicious and I’m determined to keep trying different recipes until I find the perfect one.

Pão de queijo – Serves 24

1 cup whole milk

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp oil ( I used vegetable oil)

2 eggs

3 cups Tapoica flour

1 tsp salt

4 oz grated cheese ( I used a mixture of parmesan and cheddar)

– Heat the butter, oil and milk in a pan until the butter melts.

– Add the salt to the tapioca flour and put aside.

– Add the milk to the flour and whisk at a low speed.

– Once cool to touch, add the beaten eggs.

– Add the cheese and mix until well incorporated.

-Preheat the oven to 200 degrees c. Grease a muffin tray.

-Using an ice cream scoop, place the batter into the muffin tray (1/2 full)

-Bake for around 23 minutes.

– When slightly warm, remove from the muffin tray and let it cool.

Enjoy…