Bolo de fubá is Brazilian cornmeal cake — soft, golden, and built for cafezinho. Fubá is fine cornmeal (the Brazilian milled corn for cakes), not a skillet cornbread batter. This is the common home style with milk, eggs, sugar, oil, fubá, and a little wheat flour for structure, with optional fennel seed (erva-doce).
At a glance
- Region: Across Brazil (especially Minas / home afternoon cake)
- Yield: one 9-inch (23 cm) round or similar loaf, about 10 to 12 slices
- Time: about 15 minutes to mix, 35 to 45 minutes to bake
- Gear: blender or whisk, 9-inch (23 cm) round pan or medium bundt, oven
Safety instructions
Use oven mitts with a hot pan. Eggs should be fresh and fully baked into the crumb — a toothpick in the center should come out clean. Cool the cake on a rack before slicing so the crumb sets.
What it is / What you buy
Look for fine yellow cornmeal labeled fubá or fubá mimoso at a Brazilian or Latin market. In a US aisle, fine yellow cornmeal is the stand-in — stone-ground coarse meal stays for another cook. All-purpose flour, whole milk, oil, sugar, and baking powder finish the pantry list.
Ingredients (one cake, about 10 to 12 slices)
- 2 cups (280 g) fine cornmeal (fubá)
- 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (400 g) sugar
- 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) neutral oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon (1 colher de sopa) baking powder
- 1 teaspoon (1 colher de chá) fennel seed (erva-doce), optional
- Pinch of salt
- Butter and a spoon of fubá or flour for the pan
Brazilian home cooks often blend the liquids first, then fold in the dry mix so the crumb stays tender. The 2:1 fubá-to-flour cup ratio is the classic structure for a soft cake with real corn flavor.
Method
- Heat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Butter a 9-inch (23 cm) round pan and dust with a little fubá.
- In a blender (or a bowl with a whisk), beat the eggs, milk, oil, and sugar until smooth, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the fubá, flour, salt, and fennel if using.
- Pour the liquid into the dry mix. Stir gently just until combined. Sprinkle the baking powder over the batter and fold it in last.
- Pour into the pan. Bake 35 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick in the center comes out clean and the top is golden.
- Cool in the pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.
How you know it is done
The top is golden, the edges pull slightly from the pan, and a toothpick comes out clean. The crumb should taste of corn and stay moist — closer to a Brazilian afternoon cake than a crumbly skillet bread.
With cafezinho
Slice it for the same table as cafezinho after the fire, or any quiet afternoon — coffee bags sit on the drinks and dessert kit. More sweets live on desserts after a Brazilian churrasco.
Next cooks
- Desserts after a Brazilian churrasco
- Brazilian coffee after barbecue (cafezinho)
- Pudim de leite (Brazilian condensed-milk flan)
- Bolo de rolo (Pernambuco roll cake)
Region: Across Brazil.
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