Brazilian Bolo Cake

I go cuckoo-crazy* for pound cake. I will do the penguin polka.* for pound cake. It doesn't have to be fancy pound cake or homemade, I'll take a slice of supermarket pound cake with no complaints or upturning of my nose. I grew up eating supermarket pound cake, my grandparents used to keep a box of Entenmann's All Butter Pound Cake on the kitchen table and one of my favorite things to do was break off a beastly hunk and hide in the laundry room behind the boiler shoving cake into my mouth and licking crumbs off the floor sit at the table taking very dainty bites of a wee slice of cake while reading a book. So back in April, a few days before my reading group was scheduled to meet I was feeling nostalgic for pound cake and thought I'd make one for the group. I thought of serving it with whipped cream and some kind of berry sauce just to gussy it up but I didn’t want to get any fancier than that. I started leafing through my cookbooks and came across the "Brazilian Bolo" recipe in Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. It wasn't quite a pound cake recipe but it appealed to me because of the interesting use of coconut milk but no butter or any other dairy product, that, and it's simplicity really hooked me in. I went ahead and gave it a try.

*Clearly, I’m watching way too much “Oswald”

I actually followed the alternate directions offered in the recipe for a “Citrus Bolo” which called for the zest of an orange or lemon added to the sifted ingredients. Yum, I LOVED the flavor and fragrance of this cake although I did think the cake turned out a bit too dry. I achieved the "firm" but not the "moist” crumb and I was kind of disappointed. I don’t know if that’s because I over beat the egg whites, or because I had to stop a couple of times to keep my “helper” from throwing refrigerator magnets and Cheerios into the batter, or I let the cake bake too long, or my oven was too hot or what. Everyone at the meeting and then later that night Tom (who got the leftovers and normally doesn't eat anything coconut) gave two thumbs up and said the cake was delicious. I thought maybe everyone was being polite but then no one took me up on my suggestion to dip it in coffee or milk or to eat it with ice cream (I was thinking that while the ice cream melted it would make the cake a little moister) so maybe it was just me. I will definitely be making this cake again and next time I'll be careful not to let it get too dry.

From Home Baking by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid.

Brazilian Bolo

Makes 1 tall ring-shaped or tube cake with a firm moist crumb, lightly dusted with sugar

• 2 cups all-purpose four
• 1/2 cup cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 1-3/4 cups sugar
• 1 cup coconut milk (well stirred before measuring)
• 2 teaspoons to 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar for dusting (see Note)

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 10-inch Bundt pan or a tube pan, and dust lightly with flour.

Sift the flour, cornstarch, and baking powder together into a bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat the egg whites with an electric mixer (or a whisk) until stiff but not dry; set aside.

In a medium bowl, stir the egg yolks and sugar together to blend. Gradually add the yolk mixture to the egg whites, beating at medium speed (or whisking) until incorporated. Add about 3/4 cup of the dry ingredients, mixing on low speed (or stirring in with a wooden spoon), then add about 1/3 cup of the coconut milk, and mix well. Repeat, alternating the dry ingredients and coconut milk and mixing completely.

Pour the batter into the pan. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clear, about 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a rack. Sprinkle on a dusting of sifted confectioners' sugar (about 2 teaspoons, or more if you wish). Let cool completely before sling (see Note).

NOTE : As the cake stands, the confectioners' sugar will melt and give it an attractive sheen. If you prefer the look of a white dusting of confectioners' sugar, just before serving dust the cake again with 2 to 3 teaspoons confectioners' sugar.

Citrus Bolo We like to amend this simple cake by adding orange or lemon zest. Grated or minced zest from 1 (preferably organic) fruit gives the cake a great flavor. Add the zest to the sifted dry ingredients.

Written by Deb on June 23, 2005 01:05 AM