Rosca de Polvilho

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large mixing bowl
• •Small saucepan
• •Wooden spoon or stand mixer with paddle
• •Large baking sheet
• •Parchment paper
• •Serrated knife

Instructions

1. 1

   Heat the oven

   Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Grease a baking sheet lightly with oil, or line it with parchment and oil the parchment. This dough is sticky because polvilho has no wheat flour holding it together, so the oil helps you move the ring without tearing it and saying words your grandmother wouldn't approve of.

2. 2

   Scald the polvilho

   Put the polvilho in a large bowl. In a small pan, bring the milk, water, oil, and salt just to a boil, then pour it over the starch all at once. Stir hard with a wooden spoon until the bowl looks lumpy, sandy, and a little wrong. That's right. The hot liquid partially cooks the starch, and that is what gives the rosca its chew instead of a dry crumble.

   Use polvilho azedo if you want the classic crackly lift. Polvilho doce works in some home versions, but here it gives less puff and a tighter bite. Different, not a crime.
3. 3

   Cool the dough

   Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice, until it's warm but not hot when you press it with your fingers. If the dough is too hot, the eggs cook before they join the dough, and then you're picking little egg bits out of a bowl. I have done worse. We learn.

4. 4

   Add the eggs

   Beat in the eggs one at a time, using a wooden spoon, your hand, or a stand mixer with the paddle. At first the dough will slide around and look like it has made a terrible decision. Keep going. It should turn sticky, stretchy, and thick enough to hold soft ridges. That stickiness is not failure; it's the cassava starch doing its job.

5. 5

   Knead in cheese

   Add the grated cheese and knead until it's spread evenly through the dough. The dough should feel sticky but shapeable with oiled hands, like a thick paste that obeys when you push it. If it's runny, rest it 5 minutes so the starch drinks up the liquid. If it's stiff and cracking, wet your hands and knead again, one damp hand at a time, instead of dumping in liquid and losing control.

6. 6

   Shape the ring

   Oil your hands and form the dough into one thick rope, about 50 cm long. Set it on the prepared baking sheet and join the ends into a ring, pressing the seam until it disappears. Keep the hole wide, about the size of a small cup, because the dough puffs as it bakes. A tiny hole closes up and gives you a mound, not a rosca.

7. 7

   Bake until crackly

   Sprinkle with the extra cheese if using, then bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the rosca is puffed, deep golden in spots, and cracked along the surface. Tap it gently: it should sound light, not dense. Pull it too early and the middle stays gummy; leave it until the color tells you the inside has had time to set.

8. 8

   Rest and slice

   Let the rosca rest on the tray for 10 minutes before slicing. It should still feel warm and tender, with a crisp edge and a chewy middle. That short rest lets the starch finish setting, so the slices hold together instead of dragging and tearing under the knife.

Chef Tips

• •Buy polvilho azedo, sour cassava starch, for this rosca. The sour starch puffs and crackles better. The sweet starch makes a softer, quieter ring, and you'll think you did something wrong when the bag was the difference.
• •Use cheese with salt and character: cured Minas, meia-cura, or a sharp parmesan. Mild cheese disappears into the dough and leaves you with a polite rosca, which is not what a gente came for.
• •The honest shortcut: use a stand mixer with the paddle after scalding the starch. It saves your arm on a Tuesday. The cost is that you still need to stop and feel the dough, because machines don't know ponto.
• •Don't use cheese powder, seasoning powder, or any packet promising flavor. That's not saving time. That's being sold the powdered version of dinner. Real cheese and salt do the work.
• •If you want to make it ahead, bake the rosca fully, cool it, slice it, and freeze the slices. Reheat straight from frozen until the edges crisp again. Better than pretending a sad packaged snack is food.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be shaped into a ring, covered, and refrigerated for up to 12 hours. Bake from cold, adding 3 to 5 minutes, and watch for the same golden, cracked surface.
• •Baked rosca keeps 2 days at room temperature, wrapped once fully cool. Reheat slices in a 180°C (350°F) oven for 8 to 10 minutes.
• •Freeze baked slices for up to 2 months. Reheat straight from frozen until the outside is crisp and the center is warm.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 75g)