Bolo de fubá (Brazilian cornmeal cake)

Name: Bolo de fubá (Brazilian cornmeal cake)
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Ingredients: 3 eggs; 200 g sugar; 120 ml neutral vegetable oil; 240 ml milk; 160 g cornmeal; 120 g all-purpose flour; 12 g baking powder; 1 pinch salt; 1 tsp fennel seeds (optional)

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

Bolo de fubá

A simple, golden, tender cornmeal cake with a light anise note, blended in minutes and baked in a ring tin. Classic Brazilian afternoon coffee cake.

Bolo de fubá (Brazilian cornmeal cake) is a Brazilian cake, ready in about 1 hour 25 minutes and made with cornmeal, egg and sugar. It serves 12 and is rated beginner to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 45 min
Rest: 30 min
Total: 1 h 25 min
Serves: 12
Level: Beginner
Calories: 261

Ingredients

12 slices

3 (150 g) Eggs (opens in a new tab)Contains eggs
200 g Sugar (opens in a new tab)
120 ml Neutral vegetable oil (opens in a new tab)
240 ml Milk (opens in a new tab)Contains milk
160 g Cornmeal (opens in a new tab)Fine cornmeal (fubá mimoso), not polenta grits.
120 g All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab)Contains wheat, gluten
12 g Baking powder (opens in a new tab)
1 pinch (0.5 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
1 tsp (2 g) Fennel seeds (opens in a new tab) (optional)Erva-doce; anise seed is also used.Swap: Anise seed

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 180 °C. Grease a 24 cm ring or bundt tin and dust with cornmeal (opens in a new tab) or flour.
- 3 min
- 180°C
- Bundt pan (opens in a new tab)
- Cake tin (opens in a new tab)
2
Step 2
Blend the eggs (opens in a new tab), sugar (opens in a new tab), oil and milk (opens in a new tab) for 1 minute. Add the cornmeal (opens in a new tab) and flour and blend just until smooth, then pulse in the baking powder (opens in a new tab), salt and fennel seed (opens in a new tab).
- 4 min
- Blender (opens in a new tab)
3
Step 3
Pour into the tin and bake 40–45 minutes until golden, risen and a skewer (opens in a new tab) comes out clean.
- 45 min
- 180°C
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
- Skewers (opens in a new tab)
4
Step 4
Cool 15 minutes in the tin, then turn out and cool a little more before slicing.
- 30 min

About this dish

Origin: Brazil · Well documentedAssociated especially with farmhouse cooking in Minas Gerais and the festas juninas.More food from Brazil
Dish: Breakfast · Snack · Cakes
Cooking method: Oven-baked, Blended
Taste: sweet, mild, aromatic / warmly spiced
Diet: Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free · DASH-style
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Everyday · Budget-friendly · Child-friendly
Cook more with: Cornmeal · Egg · Sugar · Milk · All-purpose flour · Baking powder
Techniques: Baking · Wet grinding · Emulsification

Allergens

Contains: Milkfrom milk
Contains: Eggsfrom egg
Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour, baking powder
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour, baking powder

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

261 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 79 g · recipe makes 12

Where the energy comes from

Protein 6%
Carbohydrate 54%
Fat 39%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	261 kcal	330 kcal
Protein	4.3 g	5.5 g
Carbohydrate	35.9 g	45.4 g
Net carbohydrate	34.7 g	43.8 g
Sugars	17.8 g	22.5 g
Added sugars	16.7 g	21.1 g
Fibre	1.2 g	1.6 g
Fat	11.6 g	14.7 g
Saturated fat	1.5 g	1.9 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	49 mg	61 mg
Sodium	151 mg	190 mg
Salt equivalent	0.4 g	0.5 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 94 mg
Calcium: 92 mg
Iron: 1.3 mg
Magnesium: 23 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 31 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0.5 µg
Vitamin B12: 0.2 µg
Folate (DFE): 39 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
Optional ingredients are not included: fennel seeds.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

The batter is thin — that is normal for blender cakes.

Common mistakes

Coarse polenta gives a gritty cake; use fine cornmeal.

Serve with

Serve with a small black coffee (cafezinho) in the afternoon.

Storage

Covered at room temperature for 3 days.

Variations

Bolo de fubá cremoso (Brazil): A wetter batter with extra milk and grated cheese bakes into a cake with a custardy layer.
With guava paste: Drop cubes of goiabada into the batter before baking.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

Egg3 piece · 150 g
Milk240 ml · 247 g
Cornmeal160 g
All-purpose flour120 g

Used in step 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 10 min
Mix only until no dry flour remains — overmixing makes it tough and tunnelled.
Bake · about 45 min at 180 °C
Risen and golden; a skewer in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs; the top springs back.
Cool · about 30 min
Cool on a rack before slicing — the crumb is still setting; cutting hot bread makes it gummy.
Start to finish: about 1 h 25 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

Gummy or wet crumb
Likely causes
- Under-baked
- Sliced while hot
- Hydration too high for the flour
What to do
- Bake to 93–96 °C inside (cakes: clean skewer)
- Cool completely on a rack before slicing
- Reduce water by 3–5% or use a stronger flour
Collapsed or sunken middle
Likely causes
- Oven door opened too early
- Too much leavening or sugar
- Under-baked centre
- Over-proofed yeast dough
What to do
- Don't open the oven for the first two-thirds of baking
- Measure leaveners exactly with spoons, levelled
- Test the centre before removing
- Proof less
Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Cracked or domed top
Likely causes
- Oven too hot (crust sets before the centre rises)
- Too much leavening
- Overmixed batter
What to do
- Lower the oven 10–15 °C
- Use the exact leavening amount
- Fold just until combined
Big holes or tunnels
Likely causes
- Overmixed batter (cakes, muffins)
- Air trapped while shaping bread
- Uneven proof
What to do
- Mix quick breads only until no dry flour shows
- Degas gently and shape tightly
- Proof covered in an even, warm place
Dry or crumbly
Likely causes
- Too much flour (scooped, not weighed)
- Over-baked
- Too little fat or sugar
What to do
- Weigh flour, or spoon it into the cup and level
- Check 5 minutes early
- Don't cut fat or sugar by more than a quarter without another moisture source

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

Blueberry Muffins
American · 47 min · 220 kcal · Contains egg
Chin chin
Nigerian · 1 h 15 min · 308 kcal · Contains egg
Pão de queijo
Brazilian · 55 min · 86 kcal · Contains egg
Lamingtons
Australian · 4 h 10 min · 354 kcal · Contains egg