Pão de Queijo

Method

1. 1Weigh both starches into a large heatproof bowl and mix them together. Have the eggs and cheese ready at room temperature, because the dough has to be assembled in one continuous sequence once the liquid boils.
2. 2Combine the milk, oil, water and salt in a saucepan and bring to a full rolling boil, not just to steaming. A liquid below boiling point will not gelatinise the starch, and that single failure produces flat, dense rolls no matter what happens later.
3. 3Pour the boiling liquid over the starch all at once and stir hard with a wooden spoon for about a minute. The mass will look lumpy, stiff and unpromising, which is exactly right at this stage; a smooth batter here means the liquid was not hot enough.
4. 4Let the mass cool 15 minutes, to below 60 °C, then beat in the eggs one at a time, working each one fully in before the next. Added too early, the eggs scramble in the hot starch and leave yellow specks.
5. 5Work in the crumbled queijo minas and the parmesan and knead 3 to 4 minutes, by hand or with a mixer, until the dough is smooth, elastic and slightly tacky. Rest it 20 minutes so the starch hydrates evenly.
6. 6Oil your hands and roll balls of about 30 g, spacing them 3 cm apart on a lined tray, since they nearly double in width. Bake at 200 °C for 20 to 25 minutes until puffed and pale gold, and do not open the oven during the first 15 minutes.
7. 7Let them sit 5 minutes before eating, so the interior finishes setting into strands rather than paste. They are at their best within the hour and should be served warm rather than reheated later.