Cook and Scale
Bolo de Fubá (Brazilian Cornmeal Cake)
8 servings · 60 min total
A moist one-bowl Brazilian cornmeal cake with coconut and a warm note of fennel seed, baked until sandy-crusted and golden — the classic partner to afternoon coffee.
Ingredients
- 200 g polenta, fine-ground
- 150 g wheat flour
- 250 g white sugar
- 3 egg, at room temperature
- 3 dl milk
- 1¼ dl vegetable oil
- 60 g desiccated coconut
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp butter, for the tin
Contains: Gluten, Milk, Egg
Allergen info is best-effort — please verify yourself.
Method
- 1.
Prepare the tin — Heat the oven to 180C. Butter a 24 cm round tin and dust it with a spoonful of polenta, tapping out the excess so the crust stays sandy and fine.
- 2.
Whip the eggs until pale — In a large bowl whisk the eggs and sugar for two or three minutes until pale, thick and foamy, then whisk in the oil and the milk in a steady stream until the mixture is smooth and loose.
- 3.
Fold in the polenta — Tip in the polenta, flour, coconut, baking powder, crushed fennel seeds and salt. Whisk just until no dry pockets remain — the batter should pour like thick cream, and overworking it will toughen the crumb.
- 4.
Bake the cake — Pour the batter into the tin and bake for 40-45 minutes, until the top is deep gold and slightly cracked and a skewer pushed into the centre comes out with a few moist crumbs.
- 5.
Turn out and cool — Let the cake settle in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a rack. It is at its best barely warm, cut into thick squares with black coffee.