I have never been to Brazil but my husband travels there quite frequently for business. Brazil enjoys an astounding mixture of many diverse cultures and its cuisine is similarly diverse, influenced by the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, German, indigenous Amerindian, African, Middle Eastern, and Japanese among others.
Brazilian cuisine celebrates the preservation of these regional differences, while evolving a national style in its own right. For example, the national dish of Brazil is the feijoada, a mixed stew of meat and beans. My husband usually visits Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo in the Southeast, and whenever he comes back I am always curious about the kinds of delicious foods he tried there. We've enjoyed many of these dishes for dinner in a few of the finer Brazilian restaurants in US, and so I've been particularly curious about breakfasts with a Brazilian touch.
As you may know, a few weeks ago, I was fortunate to receive a basket of Brazilian ingredients from Lori at Fake Food Free and these particular ingredients are perfect for breakfasts. Lori also sent me a few recipes, including Bolo de fubá, a rustic cake made of special fubá flour which is similar to a very fine cornmeal. As I looked at the other products in a basket, I immediately thought of a twist on the classic recipe.
First of all, there was Brazilian coffee. This strong coffee is ground to a very fine powder, and this consistency makes it perfectly suited for using in cooking to add that powerful coffee flavor. Another product was Mascavo sugar, an unrefined sugar from sugarcane which is similar to brown sugar but more natural and with a stronger flavor. I also got a container of Doce de Leite, a caramel dessert made from sweetened condensed milk. So, for my version of Bolo de fubá, I decided to use Mascavo sugar instead of regular sugar, add a wonderful coffee flavor to the cake, and glaze it with Doce de Leite.
Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup Mascavo sugar
2 eggs
1 cup fubá
½ cup all purpose white flour
½ cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons Brazilian coffee
Doce de Leite (about 1 cup or more if desired)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a standard Bundt pan. Cream together the butter and Mascavo sugar. Beat in the eggs and mix well. Add the fubá, flour, milk, baking powder and salt, mix well. Stir in coffee.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown and baked through. Let the cake cool and de-pan.
Warm Doce de Leite in a small pot on a stove until it is hot and bubbly. Drizzle all over the Bundt cake. Let the glaze cool, then slice and serve.
This rich and buttery cake was delicious and perfect with a cup of Brazilian coffee. I especially loved the Doce de Leite glaze. The cake was even better the next morning after being refrigerated!
Curious about how a classic Bolo de fubá should taste, I also made this cake with regular sugar and coconut (2-3 tablespoons of finely ground unsweetened coconut), according to the original recipe. I did not use a glaze but just sprinkled this cake with powdered sugar. This cake was excellent too!
