Ingredients
Dough
- 500 gcassava starch
- 400 gqueso chaqueño or a firm salty white cheese, finely grated
- 100 gbutter, softened
- 2eggs
- 100 mlmilk
- 1 tspsalt
- ½ tspbaking powder
To serve
- coffee
- api
Directions
- Grate the cheese finely. Coarse pieces melt into pockets and leave holes behind, and the cheese needs to be worked right through the dough rather than sitting in it.
- Rub the softened butter into the cassava starch along with the salt and baking powder.
- Add the grated cheese and work it in thoroughly with your hands.
- Beat in the eggs, then add the milk a spoonful at a time until the dough just comes together.
- Add the milk slowly and stop the moment it holds. Cassava starch takes up liquid unpredictably depending on the brand and the humidity, and a wet dough spreads flat in the oven.
- Knead until smooth. It will never become elastic, because there is no gluten in cassava starch at all, and it should feel dense and slightly squeaky in the hand.
- Roll into balls the size of a walnut, or shape them into small rings.
- Bake at 200°C (400°F) for 15 to 18 minutes, until puffed and pale golden with a few cracks across the top.
- Eat them warm. Cassava starch breads turn hard and rubbery within a few hours, which is exactly why they are baked in small batches through the day rather than all at once.
- Serve with coffee, or with api, the hot purple corn drink, which is the Santa Cruz breakfast.
Technique
- Cassava starch, sold as almidón de yuca, and not tapioca pearls or cassava flour. They behave completely differently.
- It is kin to Brazilian pão de queijo and Paraguayan chipa, and the three cross the lowland borders freely.
- The cheese should be salty. A mild one leaves the buns tasting of very little.
Substitutions
- A mixture of feta, rinsed, and mozzarella for queso chaqueño.
- Sour cassava starch for a tangier bun, which is closer to chipa.
Variations
- Shaped as rings rather than balls.
- With a little aniseed worked into the dough.
- Made larger and split, for a sandwich.
History
Santa Cruz cheese bread of cassava starch, kin to Brazilian pao de queijo and Paraguayan chipa across the lowland borders.
Frequently asked questions
What is Cuñapé?
Cuñapé is a bread & pastry from Bolivia: cheese-and-yuca buns from the Santa Cruz lowlands. Santa Cruz cheese bread of cassava starch, kin to Brazilian pao de queijo and Paraguayan chipa across the lowland borders.
How long does Cuñapé take to make?
Cuñapé takes 25 min of preparation and 18 min of cooking. The recipe makes 24 buns. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Cuñapé?
Yes, within limits. A mixture of feta, rinsed, and mozzarella for queso chaqueño. Sour cassava starch for a tangier bun, which is closer to chipa.
What is the most important thing to get right in Cuñapé?
Grate the cheese finely. Coarse pieces melt into pockets and leave holes behind, and the cheese needs to be worked right through the dough rather than sitting in it.
