Broa de Fubá Mineira

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •9 x 5-inch loaf pan
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Medium mixing bowl
• •Whisk
• •Spatula
• •Measuring cups and spoons

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the pan

   Heat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan and line it with a strip of parchment if you have it. The greased sides give the broa color, and the parchment lets you lift it out without performing surgery on breakfast.

2. 2

   Hydrate the fubá

   Put the fubá in a large bowl and stir in the warm milk. Let it sit for 10 minutes, until the cornmeal looks thicker and no dry grains are sitting on top. This little rest matters. Fubá drinks liquid slowly, and if you rush it, the crumb can taste sandy instead of tender.

   Warm means comfortable to touch, not boiling. Boiling milk can make the mixture clump hard before you can mix it evenly.
3. 3

   Mix the dry bowl

   In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, salt, and erva-doce. Break up any little lumps with your fingers. The baking powder needs to be spread through the flour, because one pocket of it gives you a bitter bite and one sad corner that doesn't rise.

4. 4

   Beat the wet bowl

   Add the eggs, sugar, and melted butter or oil to the hydrated fubá. Whisk until the eggs disappear and the mixture looks glossy and loose. You're not whipping air like a cake. You're making one smooth batter so the broa bakes evenly from edge to middle.

5. 5

   Bring it together

   Add the dry ingredients to the wet bowl and fold with a spatula just until you don't see dry flour. Stop there. If you keep beating, the wheat tightens and the broa turns tough, and then you'll blame Minas, me, and possibly your oven. Blame the overmixing.

6. 6

   Fill and top

   Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with coarse sugar if you want a lightly crisp surface. The batter should be thick, spoonable, and a little grainy from the fubá. That's right. Broa is meant to have body.

7. 7

   Bake until cracked

   Bake for 38 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden, cracked down the middle, and a toothpick pushed into the center comes out clean or with a few dry crumbs. If it comes out wet, give it 5 more minutes. The crack isn't a flaw. It's the bread telling you the inside expanded and set.

8. 8

   Cool and slice

   Let the broa cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then lift it out and cool at least 20 minutes before slicing. Hot broa smells like you should cut it immediately. Don't. The crumb is still settling, and cutting too soon makes it gummy instead of clean.

Chef Tips

• •Use fine fubá mimoso for this version. Coarse cornmeal stays gritty unless the recipe is built for a longer soak, and this one is a Tuesday bread, not a science project.
• •Erva-doce belongs here if you like that Mineira coffee-table smell. If your house doesn't love it, leave it out. The broa will still work, just quieter.
• •Butter gives a rounder flavor. Oil keeps the crumb softer on day two. Both are honest choices. Margarine with a long label is where I start making a face.
• •Don't reduce the sugar to nothing and then complain it tastes flat. This is not candy, but a little sugar helps the corn flavor show up and helps the top brown.
• •Slice, wrap, and freeze. Toast straight from frozen and pass butter over the hot surface. A freezer with broa in it is a very civilized freezer.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the broa up to 2 days ahead. Keep it wrapped at room temperature and slice only what you need so it doesn't dry out.
• •Freeze sliced broa for up to 3 months. Put parchment between slices if you want to pull out one at a time.
• •You can mix the dry ingredients the night before and leave them covered on the counter. Add the baking powder only if your kitchen is dry, because humidity weakens it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 80g)