Brazilian Cheese Bread

Asked by tillymum. Answered on 27th November 2015

Full question

Hello, I tried to make some of the Brazilian Cheese Bread Bread from the new book but once I'd added the milk and oil the dough siezed up into a plasticine/glue like texture which no amount of beating and adding egg would change. What did I do wrong? Thanks.

Our answer

Nigella's Brazilian Cheese Bread (from Simply Nigella) are bite-size cheesy puffs that are gluten-free as they are mde from tapioca starch. Traditionally they are made from manioc flour (also known as cassava flour or yucca starch). These are all very fine and powdery and should not be confused with coarser versions.

The milk and oil should be brought up gently to boiling point, where there are a few bubbles coming to the surface. If the mixture is at a full rolling boil then it may be too hot and we suspect that this may have caused the tapioca starch to seize up. If you have a freestanding mixer then it may help to use a dough hook to beat the mixture before adding the eggs. We have found that if the milk and oil does not quite come up to boiling point then the batter can be slightly runny. However if you refrigerate the batter until fully chilled (preferably overnight) then it will firm up and can be easily scoped into balls for baking or freezing.