In Brazil this cake is called bolo formigueiro, which translates as anthill cake. The name is a description of the crumb rather than a marketing idea: chocolate sprinkles are folded through a coconut sponge, they melt a little in the oven, and what comes out is a pale cake scattered with dark specks. Our Anthill Coconut Cake is that recipe, handcrafted by Dhi and the team, and it is one of the cakes people ask about most once they have seen it cut.
Where the name comes from
Formigueiro means anthill. Brazilian home bakers have made this cake for generations, and the name is the sort of joke a family makes about its own food. It was never meant to be a formal patisserie piece. Dhi is from Rio de Janeiro and trained at French and Italian culinary schools, so most of what leaves our kitchen carries that technique. This one carries the other half of his background: the food people actually eat at home in Brazil.
What is in it
A moist, fragrant coconut sponge with high-quality chocolate sprinkles folded through the batter. They soften as the cake bakes, which produces the spotted interior and a faint chocolate note running through a cake that reads as coconut first. It tastes light rather than rich, and the coconut keeps the sponge damp for longer than a plain butter cake would.
Why we call it a travel cake
The bundt and loaf range is our travel cake range, and the word is literal. These cakes have no delicate frosting to bruise, they do not need refrigeration, and they are built to be carried somewhere and put on a table by whoever carried them. If you are hosting and want to arrive with something that looks considered and does not need rescuing on the way in, this is the shelf to shop from. The rest of the tea cakes and loaves follow the same logic: Brazilian Carrot under a chocolate brigadeiro drizzle, Cuca Banana with a Southern Brazilian streusel, Pineapple Coconut, Apple Crumble with walnuts and raisins, Jaffa Orange Chocolate, and Peanut Butter, which contains peanuts and should be named out loud before you serve it. We never claim anything in the range is nut free.
Two sizes, and counting heads properly
The Anthill comes as a 20cm loaf at $35, which serves eight, or a 25cm bundt, which serves sixteen. Both numbers are larger than people assume, so count heads first. The bundt suits a guest list that has grown; the loaf slices neatly and travels flat, which suits a smaller table or a cake you want to leave behind with someone. The same two shapes apply to every flavour in the range, including the Marble Chocolate. If the occasion is bigger than a bundt, our layer cakes come as a 15cm serving twelve to fifteen, a 20cm serving twenty to twenty-five and a 25cm serving thirty to thirty-five.
Bring the person who has never had it
This is a cake with a story attached, and a story is wasted on one person. Collect it with a friend, order two coffees, and cut the first slices at our counter before the cake goes near your kitchen. You get the moment the spotted crumb appears, which is the reason the cake has its name, and someone beside you who has never seen it before. The room helps: an 1880s building, a plant-filled space, an open kitchen you can watch, tables that move to seat four to eight, and a water bowl for the dog. If you want a small Brazilian thing to eat while you wait, a brigadeiro is made with no added gluten, though our kitchen is small and without exclusive production areas for all of our different recipes, so traces may occur, and nothing is guaranteed safe for severe coeliac disease.
We have written more about the Brazilian carrot cake and how it differs from the spiced version, about the brigadeiro itself, and about bolo gelado, the Brazilian iced coconut cake.
Ordering and visiting
The Anthill is made to order and needs two days' notice, and the checkout date picker only offers the dates the kitchen can meet for what is in your cart. Anything already in the cabinet needs none. Collection is in person from our patisserie inside The Welder on Welles Street in the central city, one block south of the Bus Interchange, with parking across the road and behind the building, since we do not deliver. We are open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Friday and 10am to 3pm Saturday, and the frequently asked questions page covers storage, transport and allergens.
