← Back to globe
Colonial Market · German Crumb Cake

Cuca Colonial

Cuca Colonial — street food from Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
Photo: GabrielAlmeida456 / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The recipe arrived with German settlers who began colonizing Rio Grande do Sul in 1824, and small-town bakeries there still bake it in the same style their great-grandparents did.

A yeasted cake topped with crumbly streusel and fruit like plum, banana, or pineapple, sold by the slice at colonial markets and roadside bakeries in Rio Grande do Sul's German-settled towns. It's the centerpiece of the region's 'Café Colonial' all-you-can-eat spreads.

Why it's made this way: German immigration to Rio Grande do Sul in the 19th century left a distinct baking tradition unmatched elsewhere in Brazil, still visible in towns like Nova Petrópolis.
Read it in context →

More from Brazil

Guaraná Antarctica Coxinha (Chicken Croquette) Pão de Queijo (Cheese Bread) Acarajé Tapioca (Beiju) 🫘 Abará
Part of World of Street Food — 690 dishes from 118 countries. Something wrong here? Tell us in the comments below. Photo credits.