Description
A simple, blender-made Brazilian corn cake recipe (bolo de milho) shared with me by a local friend during my time living in North East Brazil.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 (10-ounce / 280 g) can sweet corn, drained (reserve the empty can for measuring)
- 1 can granulated sugar
- 1 can whole milk
- 1 can flocão de milho, plus more for dusting baking pan
- 1 can neutral oil
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- butter for greasing baking pan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 210°C (410°F). Generously grease a tube pan (similar to an angel food or chiffon cake pan) with butter and dust with flocão de milho.
- Drain the corn, but don’t throw away the can. Like many Brazilian home recipes, Bia’s family measures everything using the empty corn can rather than measuring cups.
- Add the drained corn to a blender.
- Using the empty corn can as your measuring cup, add:
- 1 can sugar
- 1 can whole milk
- 1 can flocão de milho
- 1 can neutral oil
- 3 eggs
- Blend until the mixture is completely smooth and creamy.
- Add the baking powder and pulse just a few times – only until incorporated. Avoid over-mixing once the baking powder has been added.
- Pour the batter into the prepared tube pan.
- Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until the cake is deeply golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with just a few moist crumbs attached.
- Allow the cake to cool in the pan for about 10–15 minutes before carefully turning it out onto a wire rack or serving plate.
- Serve warm or at room temperature, ideally with a cup of something hot & comforting.
Notes
- This recipe is traditionally made using a 10-ounce (280 g) can of corn. Once the corn is drained, the empty can becomes your measuring cup for the remaining ingredients. It’s one of my favorite details of Bia’s family recipe – a wonderfully practical example of Brazilian home cooking.
- Source flocão de milho, not cornmeal. Flocão is a coarse Brazilian corn flake used throughout northeastern Brazil for dishes like cuscuz and gives this cake its signature tender, slightly textured crumb.
- The traditional pan for this cake is a tube pan, similar to the kind used for angel food or chiffon cakes. The center tube helps the cake bake evenly and creates its classic shape.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes