Brazilian Pao de Queijo

In my search for bread recipes so far, I've made breads from North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.  While researching breads from South America, I discovered a few recipes for Pao de Queijo, a cheese bread from Brazil.

This bread is not made from wheat flour, but flour from the cassava root, also known as tapioca.  As I had never made any kind of gluten-free bread before, I was curious to see how this would turn out.

After a lot of reading, I decided to start with this recipe from allrecipes.com.  Following recommendations from the comment section and other recipes I had read, I changed some things.  First, I changed the proportions of oil and water.  Next, I omitted the garlic.  And finally, I substituted queso fresco of my own making instead of Parmesan cheese and increased the amount.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup olive oil or butter (I used the olive oil.)
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup milk or soy milk (I used milk.)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups tapioca flour
1 cup crumbled queso fresco (or freshly grated Parmesan cheese)
2 beaten eggs

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.  Heat oil, water, milk, and salt until just boiling.  (This can be done on the stove or in the microwave.  I used the microwave.)   Mix in the tapioca flour until smooth and allow to sit for 10-15 minutes.

I had read the sitting time was very important, and I had guessed the batter would thicken somewhat, but I had no idea exactly how much it would thicken.  When I first started stirring it after the sitting time, I thought I had put my spoon into a bowl full of very thick and half-hardened glue.

Actually, it made me smile.  There was chemistry going on . . .

Mix the beaten eggs and crumbled cheese into the batter.

Here's where I ran into a problem.  The recipe said it should look like cottage cheese at this point, but mine looked more like pancake batter.  I allowed it to sit again, wondering if it would thicken once more, but at the end of the time, it looked as much like pancake batter as it had beforehand.

I knew at once there was no way this was going to keep any kind of a shape if it was scooped out on a baking sheet.

It was time for drastic measures!

I remembered another recipe I had read in which the batter really ended up looking like, well, batter.  As a matter of fact, this other recipe mixed the batter in a blender, instead of a bowl.  And the batter was "battery" enough that the bread was cooked in a mini-muffin tin, instead of being scooped out on a baking sheet.

Fortunately, among the various pans I own, I have a mini-muffin tin, which I pulled out, greased, and filled with batter.

The baking time indicated in the recipe was 15-20 minutes, so I started with 15.  When the timer beeped, I took a look in the oven and was delighted to see the bread actually rising and baking.  As it was obviously nowhere near done, I went ahead and set the timer for the extra 5 minutes.  I ended up keeping it in for yet another 5 minutes when I found the tops had not yet browned.

Finally, it was ready to be removed!  After a couple of minutes to cool, I removed the bread from the muffin tin.  It was work.  Although the tins had been greased, the bread had to be coaxed to release from the sides and bottom.

These are second batch breads.

If I was looking for a really foreign experience, this was definitely it!  I had read that the texture was rather rubbery, but I was not quite prepared for exactly how rubbery.  One comment stated that while the exterior was nice and crunchy, the interior was a bit similar to Japanese mochi, and I had to agree.  The flavor was also not like anything I was expecting, and I recognized it might take a little time to get used to this combination.

This one is from the second batch.

There are some things which should be noted about this bread.  If muffin tins are used, make sure they are very well greased, as only having them slightly greased may result in bread which does not release easily.  Also, while many breads can be cooked at a slightly cooler temperature without suffering ill effects, this one appears to be a bit more temperature-sensitive.  If the oven is even a little cooler than 375 degrees Fahrenheit, the bread will not turn out as well.  The first batch was cooked with my oven registering 375 degrees, but it did not brown in a timely fashion and the interior was overly rubbery, to the point where it squeaked on my teeth.  (The Kitchen Artiste in Training took one bite and called the texture "awkward".)  The second batch, on the other hand, was cooked with the temperature raised 10 degrees, which meant my oven was actually heating to at least 375.  (Guess I need to get my husband to see if he can calibrate it.)  Even so, it still took 25 minutes to do any browning, instead of the 15-20 stated in the recipe.  The texture did turn out a bit less rubbery in the 2nd batch, which I enjoyed better.

The Japanese Chef (eldest daughter) ate her piece, stating that the interior reminded her of something, but she wasn't sure exactly what--maybe the interior of the Russian Yogurt Pancakes.  The Kitchen Artiste in Training was perfectly happy to munch her piece from the second batch.  I was concerned about the Senior Master Kitchen Helper, as she is sensitive to textures to the point where she gags when eating stuffed pasta shells, but she ate hers without argument or enthusiasm.  And the Master Kitchen Helper just told me it was "good" when I asked her about it.  (Unfortunately, the Junior Taste-Tester was sick with a flu, so she didn't have the chance to taste this one.)

My husband was traveling when I made this, so he missed out, but when I told him about the texture, my face in some odd expression, he just laughed.

"Of course it's like that," he said.  "It's from the cassava root, the basic food staple of many people, which the Angolans use to make funge."

Noting my puzzled expression, he continued.  "When I was traveling in Angola, we saw this a lot, especially on the weekends, when we were invited to eat at people's houses.  They would make the funge, which would end up a bland, gelatinous blob.  It was served with various sauces full of meat and vegetables, which is what made it edible."

I've never been to Angola or eaten funge, so I would have had no idea.

I'm sure I will make it again, but first, I have to make more queso fresco, because I ate the rest of that batch sprinkled on scrambled eggs.  At least this time, I will know more about what to expect.