Bolo Souza Leão

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •10-inch smooth tube pan or deep 9-inch round pan, 2.5 to 3 liter capacity
• •Large roasting pan for banho-maria
• •Heavy 2-liter saucepan
• •Fine-mesh sieve
• •Instant-read or candy thermometer, optional but useful

Instructions

1. 1

   Warm the ingredients

   Take the yolks, coconut milk, and massa puba out of the fridge about 1 hour before you start. They should feel cool to neutral, not cold. Cold coconut milk tightens the butter later, cold yolks grab when syrup comes near them, and then you get a split batter and start blaming yourself. Don't. Let time do its cheap little job.

2. 2

   Prepare the bath

   Heat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Butter a 10-inch smooth tube pan or a deep 9-inch round pan very generously, especially the center tube and corners. Put a large roasting pan on the counter and bring a kettle of water almost to a boil. The banho-maria keeps the heat gentle, which matters because this cake is closer to a custard than to a fluffy bolo.

3. 3

   Make ponto de fio

   Put the sugar and water in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir only until the sugar dissolves, then stop stirring and let it boil until it reaches ponto de fio, about 106°C to 108°C (223°F to 226°F), or until the last drops falling from a spoon pull into a thin thread instead of separate drops. The sugar needs this point before it joins the gemas because the extra water has to cook off and the crystals have to dissolve. Skip it and the cake weeps; go too far and it turns heavy.

   If you have a thermometer, use it. That's not cheating, that's measurement. Receitas que funcionam are built so a beginner isn't forced to guess.
4. 4

   Cool with butter

   Take the syrup off the heat and stir in the butter pieces until melted and glossy. Let it cool until the pan feels warm, not hot, about 20 to 25 minutes. Hot syrup hitting yolks makes sweet scrambled egg, and nobody needs that tragedy in a celebration cake. Warm syrup blends; hot syrup attacks.

5. 5

   Loosen the puba

   Put the crumbled massa puba in a large bowl. Add the room-temperature coconut milk a little at a time, whisking and pressing out lumps until it looks like thick pourable cream with fine cassava grains. Add the salt. The coconut milk has to be room temperature because it needs to meet the yolks and butter politely; cold leite makes the batter seize and separate.

6. 6

   Strain the yolks

   Set a fine sieve over a bowl, puncture the yolks, and let them pass through naturally. Don't scrape the sieve hard. The little membranes stay behind, and that's good, because they bring the eggy taste people complain about when they say old sweets are too strong. We want gemas, not membrane.

7. 7

   Join the batter

   Whisk the strained yolks into the puba and coconut mixture until the color turns even and deep yellow. Now pour in the warm syrup and butter in a thin stream, whisking the whole time. Go steady. This slow joining keeps the yolks smooth and the butter held inside the batter instead of floating on top like a bad decision.

8. 8

   Sieve and rest

   Pass the whole batter through the fine sieve into a clean bowl, pressing gently with a spatula. Leave behind fibers, hard cassava bits, and stubborn yolk threads. Let the batter rest 10 minutes, then skim off any thick foam. This is not fuss for fuss's sake; this is why the finished slice is creamy instead of gritty.

9. 9

   Bake gently

   Pour the batter into the buttered pan and set the pan inside the roasting pan. Add hot water to the roasting pan until it comes halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake for 70 to 85 minutes, until the top is deep gold, the edges are set, and the center still quivers softly when you nudge the pan. A toothpick will come out moist, not clean. This is correct. Bake it too hot and it weeps butter and water; bake it too long and it turns rubbery.

   If the top browns too fast before the center sets, lay foil loosely over the pan. Don't press it down. You are shielding the color, not wrapping leftovers.
10. 10

    Cool and unmold

    Turn off the oven, open the door, and let the cake sit in the water bath for 20 minutes. Move the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature, then chill at least 3 hours, preferably overnight. The starch and yolks finish setting as they cool, so don't rush the unmolding. Run a thin knife around the edge, dip the bottom of the pan briefly in warm water, invert onto a plate, and serve small slices. It should hold its shape and still look glossy at the cut.

Chef Tips

• •Massa puba is fermented cassava dough, not cassava flour, not polvilho, not tapioca starch. Powder cannot become Bolo Souza Leão. It can only become disappointment with a receipt.
• •Good massa puba smells clean and lightly sour, like cassava that has woken up, not like mold or rot. If it smells wrong, cook something else. A tired ingredient is not your fault, but it is still a tired ingredient.
• •Fresh coconut milk is beautiful here if you have the coconut and the patience. The honest Tuesday shortcut is canned full-fat coconut milk. The cost is a little less perfume. Coconut milk powder and fake coconut flavor are not shortcuts, they're imitation food.
• •Separate the eggs while they're cold, because the yolks break less, then let the yolks come to room temperature before mixing. Freeze the whites for suspiro, pudim de claras, or another cake. Waste is not a tradition.
• •Do not beat air into this batter. Bolo Souza Leão is supposed to be dense, glossy, and creamy. If you whip it like a sponge cake, you are teaching it the wrong job.
• •Straining twice is the move. Once for the yolks, once for the finished batter. It looks fussy until you cut the cake and see that smooth golden interior. Then you understand.
• •Make it the day before. This cake behaves better after a night in the fridge, when the texture settles and the slices come out clean.

Advance Preparation

• •Bring the yolks, coconut milk, and massa puba to room temperature 1 hour before mixing.
• •Fresh massa puba can be drained in a sieve in the fridge up to 12 hours ahead.
• •The cake can be baked 1 day ahead and chilled overnight. Let it sit at cool room temperature for 30 minutes before slicing.
• •Homemade massa puba takes 24 to 48 hours of soaking and fermenting cassava, so start ahead if you are not buying it fresh.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 190g)