Pão de Queijo

Ingredients

• 400 g tapioca starch
• 200 ml milk
• 100 ml vegetable oil
• 150 g parmesan, finely grated
• 100 g mature cheddar, finely grated
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp salt

Method

1. Boil the liquid

   Bring the milk, oil, salt and 100 ml water to a full rolling boil. It must genuinely boil — this is a scalded dough, and lukewarm liquid will not do the job.

   5 min

2. Scald the starch

   Pour the boiling liquid all at once over the tapioca starch and beat hard. It seizes into a stringy, alarming, glue-like mass. That is exactly right: the boiling liquid gelatinises the starch, and that gelatinisation is what makes these hollow and chewy rather than flat and sandy.

3. Cool before the eggs

   Let it cool until only just warm — 15 minutes or so. Add eggs to hot dough and you get scrambled egg through it.

   15 min

4. Beat in eggs and cheese

   Beat in the eggs one at a time, then both cheeses. It stays sticky and looks wrong; do not be tempted to add flour. Wet your hands to roll it into walnut-sized balls.

5. Bake hot

   Bake at 200°C for 20 to 25 minutes until puffed and golden. They inflate dramatically and hollow out inside.

   25 min

6. Eat warm

   They are at their best within about ten minutes of coming out. Freeze the raw balls and bake from frozen, adding a few minutes.