Anthill yogurt, lime and almond cake on an atypical day

After months without baking cakes, I felt the urge to make a new recipe, a tasty one, to brighten up the rainy Friday. 

In a very atypical day, I woke up with such a disposition as I hadn’t in quite a long time: got up very early, turned on the oven, prepared the cake batter and while it baked and perfumed my home I sat down and wrote down a newsletter for my Portuguese speaking readers. It was a few minutes after 06:00 and the light coming through the balcony gave me energy.

While I picked the recipes for the newsletter and wrote the text, I started feeling so good, it was like a ray of sunshine coming from within: I did not even remember when I had last felt that way, especially about food, recipes. It was such a good feeling I would have kept it in a jar if I could.

When I removed the cake from the oven, it was so beautiful and golden, I wished really hard for it to turn out delicious, not only for our coffee break in that afternoon, but also so I could share the recipes with you here on the blog. I unmolded the cake and left it cooling on the kitchen counter – hours later, I cut myself a slice and tasted it: it was really good! My mind, so tired lately, immediately started thinking about the photo, how I would photograph the cake, which colors would work well with it. I opened my cupboard and, looking at the china and silverware, pictured in my head what would please my eyes the most. I prepped everything, grabbed the camera, took the photos, and again started feeling really good. If I could, I would turn that feeling into a scented candle.

With my hear at peace, with a nice cake to go with my cup of tea and a very productive day, for a moment I felt like my old self again. I hope the Patricia from the past shows up again sometimes, I missed her so much.

Anthill yogurt, lime and almond cake

adapted from the Epicurious recipe, once again

 

180g all-purpose flour

45g almond meal/finely ground almonds

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon table salt

3 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

finely grated zest of 2 large limes

1 cup (200g) granulated sugar

¾ cup (180g) plain yogurt – I used sheep’s milk yogurt

½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil – I used canola

2 large eggs, room temperature

1 tablespoon Amaretto (optional)

1 tablespoon lime juice

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 180C/350°F. Lightly brush a 6-cup capacity loaf pan with oil, line it with baking paper and then brush the paper as well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, almond meal, baking powder and salt. Whisk in the chocolate sprinkles. Set aside.

In a large bowl, rub lime zest and sugar together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Whisk in yogurt, oil, eggs, Amaretto (if using), lime juice and vanilla until smooth. Fold in reserved dry ingredients – if batter is too lumpy, whisk for a few seconds – do not overmix or the cake will become tough.

Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.

Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully and using the paper as a guide, remove cake from pan and transfer to the rack to cool completely.

The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Serves 8

Anthill shortbread

My nephew loves anthill cake and because of that last December I bought a large bag of chocolate sprinkles – he was visiting me every week and we would bake the cake together. It was a lot of fun.

The pandemic came, so did the need of social distancing and the anthill cakes became a thing of the past. Sometimes I see the huge jar of sprinkles in my cupboard and I miss those Saturdays with my nephew so, so much. I wanted to find a way to use up the sprinkles in other recipes, and decided to add them to cookie dough.

These shortbread cookies are simple, yet delicious: crunchy when you bite them, then they melt in your mouth. I baked the first log of dough at the same day I made the recipe, then froze the other log for some other time. Last Sunday my husband wanted something tasty to go with his espresso and we were out of cake; I turned the oven on and baked the other dough log – freshly baked cookies for the super cold day we were having. 

Anthill shortbread

slightly adapted from Annie Bell’s brown sugar shortbread

 

200g unsalted butter, chilled and diced

50g light brown sugar

50g granulated sugar

300g all purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon table salt

6 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

3 ½ tablespoons whole milk, cold

 

For sprinkling over the dough logs:

1 ½ tablespoons granulated or demerara sugar

 

Place butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer and mix until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs – at this stage there will still have large pieces of butter. Add flour, salt and chocolate sprinkles and mix again until mixture is sandy. With the mixer on low, add the milk, gradually, just until a dough starts to form – you might not need to use all the milk.

Divide dough in half and place each onto a large piece of baking paper. Shape dough like a cylinder, using a ruler to help, as Martha does here. Refrigerate for 4 hours, or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Line two large baking sheets with baking paper.

Unwrap one of the dough logs (keep the other in the fridge) and brush it lightly with water. Sprinkle with half the sugar, spreading it evenly. Slice the cylinder into 1cm-thick rounds. Place onto the prepared baking sheets 5cm (2in) apart and bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden around the edges. Remove from the oven and cool in the sheets over a wire rack for 5 minutes, then carefully slide the paper with the cookies onto the rack and cool completely. Repeat the process with the other log of dough and sugar.

Cookies can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. Dough can be frozen for up to 2 months.

Makes 40

Anthill banana cake and something new in our house

These are insane times we are living in – and in Brazil, for more reasons than the pandemic only – and many things are changed. However, I’ll tell you about something small, but important to me: my husband has discovered the joy of having a slice of cake in the middle of the afternoon. He was never fond of sweets and never tried my baked goods or desserts, but nowadays he asks me to bake a cake, or cookies, so he can take a break between lunch and dinner and enjoy something sweet with his espresso.

It might seem silly, but for me it was a very nice surprise, in these crazy days. 

Therefore, I have been baking once a week, a cake or sometimes cookies, and he looks at me with those Puss in Boots’ eyes asking if he can have something delicious with his coffee. :) My heart is filled with joy.

One of the cakes I baked recently was the one I bring you today, a banana cake with chocolate sprinkles as the Brazilian anthill cake. I had to adapt the recipe to yield a small cake since I had only 1 ripe banana at home. The cake turned out moist, tender and perfumed the entire apartment while it was in the oven. 

Anthill banana cake

adapted from this recipe

 

1 large very ripe banana (150g/5oz weighed before peeling)

2 eggs, room temperature

65g light brown sugar

100ml vegetable oil – I used canola

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

185g all purpose flour

1 ¾ teaspoons baking poder

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F. Lightly brush with vegetable oil a small loaf pan - 22x10cm, 4 ½ cups capacity – line it with baking paper and brush the paper as well.

In a medium bowl, mash the banana with a fork. Add the eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla and whisk well. Add the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt and fold with a spatula – do not overmix or the cake will turn out tough. Stir in the chocolate sprinkles. Pour into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for about 40 minutes or until golden and risen and a skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool in the pan over a wire rack for 20 minutes, then carefully unmold using the paper as guide. Transfer to the rack and cool completely.

Serves 6-7 slices

Anthill orange yogurt cake

Those of you who follow the news about Brazil probably know that the situation here is completely chaotic: not only we have to deal with a virus, we also have to deal with a psychopath in the presidency of the country. It has not been easy to keep sane.

I have found solace in the kitchen, cooking and baking, trying to make my days a little bit lighter and happier. I made this cake last week, using again the Epicurious’ yogurt cake as base and it turned out amazing: super tender, perfumed with orange, delicious. I added chocolate sprinkles in order to turn the cake into an anthill cake, a popular cake in Brazil.

I hope you like the recipe much as I did.

Anthill orange yogurt cake
slightly adapted from Epicurious

1 ½ cups (210g) all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon table salt
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
finely grated zest of 1 large orange
¾ cup (180g) plain yogurt – I used sheep’s milk yogurt
½ cup (120ml) vegetable oil – I used canola
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

Preheat oven to 180C/350°F. Lightly brush a 6-cup capacity loaf pan with oil, line it with baking paper and then brush the paper as well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and orange zest and rub together with your fingertips until sugar is fragrant. Add yogurt, oil, eggs and vanilla and whisk until smooth. Fold in reserved dry ingredients, keeping 1 tablespoon reserved, just to blend – if batter is too lumpy, whisk for a few seconds. Stir the chocolate sprinkles into the reserved flour mixture, then fold everything into the batter.
Pour the batter into prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 50-55 minutes, or until a skewer or toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.
Let cake cool in pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Carefully and using the paper as a guide, remove cake from pan and transfer to the rack to cool completely.

The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Serves 8

Brazilian candy in tiny cups: brigadeiro, beijinho and bicho-de-pé

Brigadeiro and beijinho are very popular types of candy served in parties here in Brazil - bicho-de-pé is a bit less usual, but equally adored.

They all start with a can of sweetened condensed milk - something we love around here. Many of our dessert/candy recipes call for it.

The difference is in the flavors: beijinho is made with coconut, brigadeiro is chocolatey and bicho-de-pé is (artificially) strawberry flavored.

After the candy is cooked and left to cool down, it is shaped into balls and rolled on some sort of coating (granulated sugar, desiccated coconut, chocolate sprinkles) and then placed into very small fluted paper cups (don’t mind the horrible photo, I made these for her birthday last year):
Since I was making all the candy without any help - my sister/birthday girl/sous chef had another birthday party to go to that afternoon - I decided to spare some time and use an idea I'd seen in a couple of websites - to serve the candy inside small cups. I bought tiny plastic cups (15ml each), poured the candy while still hot inside them (before the mixture starts to firm up) and served with small wooden spoons.

The candy was a huge hit at the party – a lot more than the cake! :)

Beijinho

1 can sweetened condensed milk (395g)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
5 tablespoons unsweetened desiccated coconut

Mix the condensed milk, butter and coconut in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly – when the bottom of the pan starts to show and the mixture is a bit thicker, remove from heat and immediately pour the candy into the cups.
After it’s completely cool, sprinkle with unsweetened desiccated coconut and decorate with a clove.
If you want to shape the candy into balls, pour the mixture onto a greased plate and let it cool completely before using. Lightly coat your hands with butter, grab small portions of candy and roll into balls. Roll them in unsweetened desiccated coconut or granulated sugar and place in small fluted paper cups. Decorate each ball with a clove.

Makes 25 tiny cups (15ml) or 40 balls (approx. 2cm each)

Brigadeiro

1 can sweetened condensed milk (395g)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

Mix the condensed milk, butter and cocoa powder in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly – when the bottom of the pan starts to show and the mixture is a bit thicker, remove from heat and immediately pour the candy into the cups.
After it’s completely cool, sprinkle with chocolate sprinkles.
If you want to shape the candy into balls, pour the mixture onto a greased plate and let it cool completely before using. Lightly coat your hands with butter, grab small portions of candy and roll into balls. Roll them in chocolate sprinkles and place in small fluted paper cups.


Makes 25 tiny cups (15ml) or 40 balls (approx. 2cm each)

Bicho-de-pé

1 can sweetened condensed milk (395g)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
½ package (40g) strawberry flavored gelatin powder

Mix the condensed milk, butter and gelatin in a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly – when the bottom of the pan starts to show and the mixture is a bit thicker, remove from heat and immediately pour the candy into the cups.
After it’s completely cool, sprinkle with granulated sugar – I preferred to use a tiny piece of strawberry.
If you want to shape the candy into balls, pour the mixture onto a greased plate and let it cool completely before using. Lightly coat your hands with butter, grab small portions of candy and roll into balls. Roll them in granulated sugar and place in small fluted paper cups.

Makes 25 tiny cups (15ml) or 40 balls (approx. 2cm each)

Brazilian anthill cake

This cake is called “anthill cake” because when you slice it, it looks like there are a thousand ants inside it:

Don’t be scared! These are chocolate sprinkles. :)

I think I had not eaten this cake in 8 years or so – I’m not kidding!
It’s a very traditional cake here and delicious even without any icing. Some recipes call for desiccated coconut, but the one I grew up baking doesn’t.
I used to bake this cake all the time when I was a teenage baker. It would be the perfect afternoon snack for me, my brother and Julio (my stepmother’s son) after we finished our homework.
The first time I made this cake was bit tragic, though: I poured too much batter in the pan and then it started to overflow… The batter on the oven got burnt and the kitchen was full of smoke. As I was a silly girl, I gave up the cake and went to my room to cry.

That day, we had company at home: my cousin Daniel and a friend of the boys’ were there, too.
Half an hour or so after the disaster, the 4 boys came to talk to me. They told me they had cleaned the oven and also washed the cake pan; they asked me to bake the cake again – of course I couldn’t say no to such a sweet request!

This time I used a recipe from a friend for the cake and chose the same chocolate icing I used for my Brazilian carrot cake. And apparently I haven’t learned my lesson – again, cake pan was a bit too small:
Brazilian anthill cake

3 eggs
pinch of salt
240g sugar
200g unsalted butter, room temperature
200ml milk
300g all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
6 tablespoons chocolate sprinkles

Chocolate icing:
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
4 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons milk

For the cake: Preheat the oven to 180ºC/355ºF. Grease and flour a 24cm ring pan.
Separate the egg whites from yolks being careful to not contaminate the whites with the yolks. Beat the egg whites with the salt until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Using a mixer, beat yolks, sugar and butter until light and creamy. Start adding the flour, alternating with the milk and beat well.
Add the baking powder and the chocolate sprinkles and mix well with a spoon. Fold in the egg whites – the batter is very thick. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then invert the cake onto a serving plate.
Make the icing: mix all the ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over high heat until it boils.
Remove from heat and pour it over the cake.

Serves 10-12.