today I made a Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread) cake in the rice cooker but had to finish baking it in the oven

not every cake is meant to be a rice cooker cake and it's okay

my dear friend, my next cookbook, 108 Asian Cookies, is coming this October, and if you preorder now, you will receive a year-long subscription to my premium substack (worth $70) and access to new recipes all year long! Preorders mean so, so much to underrepresented authors like me and show publishers and retailers that voices like mine deserve prominent spaces on the bookshelves!

PS: I have a limited number of bespoke cookie boxes for sale, with all proceeds going to Myanmar earthquake relief.

Thank you!

END OF ANNOUNCEMENT

dear friend,

Today, I was craving pão de queijo, or Brazilian cheese bread, you know those lovely mochi-like cheese balls that Brazillian steakhouses serve? Across Hong Kong and East Asia, you’ll find mochi cheese balls similar to the Brazillian kind. The Spanish and Portuguese did have a massive influence across the globe during the age of exploration. Portugal colonized Brazil and had trade networks in Asia, particularly through another one of its colonies, Macau, which is near Hong Kong. Cultural exchanges often occurred in these trading hubs, including the movement of recipes, ingredients, and culinary techniques.

katlieu

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The chewy texture beloved in mochi-like foods could have also inspired adaptations using local starches like tapioca or glutinous rice flour.

Anyhoo, fascinating historical hypothesis aside, I wanted to make a cake out of pão de queijo and figured I could do it with my trusty Zojirushi rice cooker.

The thing is, it could have worked if I had used half of the batter. To make a pão de queijo cake, you first have to whip up a very thick, cheesy batter made from tapioca starch, lots of cheese, oil, eggs, and milk (see recipe below). It’s a dense batter, denser than my chiffon cake and Japanese cheesecake batters, and requires a constant and even heat source to allow the cake to rise. Two cycles of cooking in the rice cooker later I knew I needed to salvage the cake in the oven.

In fact, this cake should have been baked, at the get-go, and possibly with a tube pan to help it rise even more.

Had I used half of the batter, the cake would have cooked through in the rice cooker; however, it would have been a thinner cake, and if you know me, I like my cakes thiccc.

Pssst: I have two cookbooks out by the way. 108 Asian Cookies, my third cookbook is coming 2025.

As you can see, the cake is still a bit undone after two cycles in the rice cooker. Tapioca starch needs to be fully cooked; otherwise, your cake will takes powdery. Once fully cooked, the starch gelatinizes fully.

Cake looks a little pale…

I popped the cake out of the rice cooker bowl and popped it into the oven for 15 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and that seemed to salvage the cake!

The result is a gluten-free cake that’s crispy on the outside and cheesy, soft, chewy, and perfect on the inside.

By the way, unlike traditional pão de queijo, this cake is somewhat sweet (or as East Asians like to say, not-too-sweet). I added ube halaya, and man, this cake tasted like a dream. One slice was not enough, but I only had one since I’m on a calorie-deficit diet. The rest of the cake went to my family and neighbors.

So if you’re ready to make this cake, let’s get to my recipe. Instead of using a cake pan, you can use a muffin tin and make cheese balls or cheese muffins instead, k?

Kat Lieu’s Pão de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread) Cake Recipe