Pão de Queijo - Brazilian Cheese Puffs

Recently, I've been craving so much for Brazilian food. I guess it was ever since i had the priviledge to eat feijoada (Brazilian black bean stew) at one of the Brazilian restaurants in Sydney: Favela. It was so good and quite authentic and now it makes me miss Brazilian food even more...every single bit of it - from main dishes to snacks! Been thinking of going back to my roots and start making some Brazilian dishes...soh pra matar a saudade! At first, i was determined to make feijoada, but gave up on the idea because i found out that it isn't easy to get the ingredients here, at least not in Canberra. Thus i decided to make something easy and that brings back good memories of my childhood: Pao de queijo! I still remember the days in middle school when i would line up in canteen queues just to get a hot and deliciously soft pao de queijo during recess. Awww.

So here is the recipe:

- 300ml of milk

- 125g of unsalted butter, melted

- 1 tbsp of salt

- 450g of tapioca starch

- 2 large eggs or 3 small eggs

- 150g of parmesan cheese (the ones that you sprinkle on top of your pasta)

Method:

1) Bring the milk, melted unsalted butter and the salt to boil

2) Remove the pot from the fire and add the tapioca starch in portions, mixing with a wooden spoon after each addition. It will eventually form something that look like a 'semi-dough'

3) Leave it to cool

4) Add one egg at a time and a portion of the parmesan cheese to the 'semi-dough' and knead it. Repeat the process until you get a smooth dough (something that resembles to a bread dough)

5) Make small/medium balls with the dough

6) Pre-heat oven to 180C and bake the cheese balls for around 20 minutes or until they are slightly brown on the top.

Enjoy!