Weekend Recipe: Thiago Castanho’s Cassava cakes with tonka bean caramel

Bolinho de tapioca com toffee de cumaru – Cassava cakes with tonka bean caramel 

I have great affection for this recipe because it reminds me a lot of my childhood, when I used to go to my grandmother’s house for the weekend. She prepared these little cakes in the morning and an unforgettable aroma always came out of the oven. The recipe is easy. We added to this version a caramel sauce made with cumaru, known in English as tonka bean – an aromatic Amazonian seed used in folk medicine and perfumery, and now also used for cooking.

Makes 10

Tonka bean caramel
* 500ml single cream
* 500g caster sugar
* 2 tonka bean pods or vanilla pods
* 100g unsalted butter
* ¼ tsp sea salt flakes

Cassava cakes
* oil, for greasing
* 470g farinha de tapioca or Farinha de Tapioca Substitute
* 45g butter, at room temperature
* 70g caster sugar
* 30g queijo de coalho or halloumi, grated
* 2 pinches of salt
* 500ml whole milk
* 1 free-range egg
* 1 tsp fennel seeds

1. To make the caramel, melt the sugar slowly in a heavy based stainless steel saucepan. In a separate saucepan, heat the cream to scalding point.
2. When the sugar has turned to a golden caramel, or reached 170°C on a sugar thermometer, pour the hot cream into it and add the tonka bean pods.
3. Continue cooking until the caramel sauce coats the back of a spoon, then remove the pan from the heat.
4. Stir the butter and sea salt flakes into the sauce, then transfer to a blender and process for 2 minutes. Pass the caramel through a sieve. Leave to cool, then store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.
5. Next make the cassava cakes. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F), gas mark 4, and oil a large baking sheet.
6. In a large bowl, combine the tapioca flour with the butter, sugar, cheese and salt.
7. In a saucepan, heat the milk to 80°C and pour it over the flour mixture. Stir well, then leave to stand for about 30 minutes.
8. When the mixture has cooled, add the egg and fennel seeds and mix well.
9. Shape the dough into balls the size of golf balls, then put them on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Serve the cakes while still warm with some of the reheated caramel.

Tips from Thiago:

If substituting halloumi for queijo de coalho, omit the salt in the cake batter. This recipe can also be served with Tapioca and Vanilla Ice Cream or plain vanilla ice cream.

Recipe from Brazilian Food by Thiago Castanho & Luciana Bianchi, available here