In Brazil this cake is called bolo formigueiro. Anthill cake. The name describes the crumb rather than selling anything: chocolate sprinkles go into a coconut sponge, soften in the oven, and out comes a pale cake scattered with dark specks. Our Anthill Coconut Cake is that recipe, handcrafted by Dhi and the team. People ask about it more than almost anything in the range, 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. Nobody meant it as 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 him: 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. You get the spotted interior from that, and a low chocolate note running under a cake that reads coconut first. Coconut holds water, so the crumb stays damp and tender longer than a plain butter cake would. Where the sprinkles have melted, the crumb turns faintly chewy. Light, not rich.
Why we call it a travel cake
The bundt and loaf range is our travel cake range, and the word is literal. No delicate frosting to bruise on the way. No refrigeration. These are built to be carried somewhere and set on a table by whoever carried them. If you are hosting and want to arrive with something considered that needs no rescuing at the door, shop this shelf. The rest of the tea cakes and loaves follow the same logic: Brazilian Carrot under a chocolate brigadeiro drizzle, Cuca Banana under a Southern Brazilian streusel that crumbles away from the knife, 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 run 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
A cake with a story attached 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 anywhere near your kitchen. The knife goes in, the spotted crumb opens up, and the name explains itself to somebody seeing it for the first time. The room helps: an 1880s building, plants everywhere, 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.
Getting your hands on one
The Anthill is made to order and needs two days' notice. The checkout date picker only offers the dates the kitchen can meet for what is in your cart, and anything already in the range needs none. Collect 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. We do not deliver. Our hours are 10am to 9pm Tuesday to Saturday, and the frequently asked questions page covers storage, transport and allergens.
