Pão de queijo: Ricardo Gonzalez's version

What it is

Pão de queijo is a Brazilian cheese bun made from tapioca starch rather than wheat flour. The dough is a soft, glossy paste that holds its shape when scooped, and the baked buns are small, round and golden, with a cheese-flavoured crumb.

This named version comes from a King Arthur Baking card by Ricardo Gonzalez. It adds garlic and a hard grating cheese to the dough, which sets it apart from versions built on different cheeses or starch treatments.

Scalding the starch

The method starts by boiling butter, water, milk and salt, then beating that hot liquid into the tapioca until the mixture is smooth. The hot liquid is what makes the starch cohesive before the garlic, cheese and eggs are added.

Tapioca starch from different brands absorbs liquid differently. The card therefore adds more tapioca only as needed, with no stated amount, until the dough holds its shape.

Leavening

The ingredient list names no yeast, culture or chemical leavener, and the author gives no mechanism for the rise. This version has no dough-fermentation stage, so it is recorded as not fermented. Structure is attributed to the tapioca, not to a raising agent.

The eggs are beaten in gradually after the dough has cooled enough to take them, and the card's test is the dough's texture rather than a timing.

Heat and shaping

The card makes 18 to 20 buns, with about 10 minutes of hands-on work, 20 minutes of baking and 30 minutes in total, at 375 °F (190 °C). Two-tablespoon portions are spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart and baked until they are freckled and beginning to colour.

The aged hard cheeses in the card (Parmesan, Romano or aged Asiago) contribute salt and savour; the card names no substitute cheese.

Storing leftovers

The author advises wrapping leftover buns, keeping them at room temperature for a couple of days or freezing them for longer, and rewarming briefly before eating. This advice is the author's own and is not independently tested, so no shelf life is recorded here.