Cuca Alemã com Farofa Doce

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •23-by-33 cm baking pan or 9-by-13 inch pan
• •Large mixing bowl
• •Wooden spoon or stand mixer with paddle
• •Small bowl for the farofa
• •Measuring cups and spoons

Instructions

1. 1

   Wake the yeast

   Pour the warm milk into a large bowl and stir in the yeast with 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Wait 5 to 10 minutes, until the surface looks creamy and a little foamy. If the milk is hot, it can kill the yeast; if it's cold, the yeast works slowly and you'll think the recipe failed. Warm like a bath for a baby, not hot like coffee.

   Instant yeast can go straight into flour, yes. I still like waking it here because a beginner deserves proof that the little packet is alive before the flour joins the party.
2. 2

   Make the dough

   Add the remaining sugar, 3 cups flour, salt, eggs, softened butter, vanilla, and lemon zest if using. Mix with a wooden spoon or the paddle of a mixer until you have a sticky, thick dough that pulls in elastic strands, about 3 minutes by mixer or 5 minutes by hand. It should be softer than bread dough and thicker than cake batter. Don't bury it in extra flour, because that softness is what gives cuca its tender middle.

3. 3

   Let it rise

   Scrape the dough into a greased bowl, cover it, and let it rise in a warm corner until puffy and almost doubled, about 45 to 60 minutes. Look at the dough, not only the clock. It should look airy and relaxed, with tiny bubbles near the edge. This rest builds flavor and lift, so rushing it gives you a dense cake pretending it had somewhere else to be.

4. 4

   Make the farofa

   While the dough rises, mix 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add the cold butter cubes and rub them in with your fingertips until you have crumbs of different sizes, some sandy, some like small peas. The cold butter keeps the farofa crumbly in the oven instead of melting into a flat sweet paste.

5. 5

   Fill the pan

   Grease a 23-by-33 cm baking pan, or a 9-by-13 inch pan. Scrape in the risen dough and spread it to the corners with lightly oiled fingers. Be gentle. If you press all the air out, the base loses the rise you just waited for. The dough will look thin at first; it grows again under the farofa.

6. 6

   Add the crumb

   Scatter the farofa over the dough in an even, generous layer, then press only a few larger crumbs lightly so they hold. Don't pack the whole top down. Loose crumbs bake crisp at the edges and tender underneath; packed crumbs turn heavy and can keep the center from baking evenly.

7. 7

   Second rise

   Cover the pan loosely and let it rise again for 25 to 35 minutes, until the dough looks puffed around the edges and the farofa has lifted slightly. Heat the oven to 180°C or 350°F while it rests. This second rise is small but important: it gives you a soft base instead of a tight one.

8. 8

   Bake until gold

   Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the farofa is golden in spots and a toothpick pushed into the center comes out without wet dough. Let it cool in the pan for at least 20 minutes before cutting. Hot cuca tears and smears; warm cuca cuts into squares and keeps the crumb where it belongs.

Chef Tips

• •Use real butter in the farofa. Margarine makes a softer, flatter crumb, and powdered cake mixes have no business here. This is comida de verdade: flour, sugar, butter, yeast, and time.
• •The honest Tuesday shortcut is to mix the dough in a stand mixer. Same ingredients, less arm work. The cost is only one more bowl to wash, which is not a moral failure.
• •If your kitchen is cold, put the covered dough in the turned-off oven with the light on. Warm helps yeast move. Hot kills it. Anota aí, because this is where many people lose the cake.
• •Make two if you're taking this to a table with more than four people. One cuca looks generous until the first row disappears with coffee.
• •You can add sliced banana or spoonfuls of goiabada before the farofa, but buy what's good today. A tired banana makes a tired cake, and I won't let you blame the recipe for sad fruit.

Advance Preparation

• •Bake the cuca up to 1 day ahead and keep it covered at room temperature. The crumb softens a little, but the flavor settles beautifully.
• •Freeze cut squares for up to 2 months. Thaw at room temperature and warm briefly in a low oven if you want the farofa to taste fresh again.
• •The farofa can be made 2 days ahead and kept covered in the fridge. Use it cold so the butter stays crumbly.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 80g)