Broke surface on top of tapioca (5)
I believe the answer is:
skint
'broke' is the definition.
(both can mean struggling financially)
'surface on top of tapioca' is the wordplay.
'surface' becomes 'skin' (skin is a kind of surface).
'on top of' suggests taking the first letters (I've seen 'on top' mean this).
The first letter of 'tapioca' is 't'.
'skin'+'t'='SKINT'
(Other definitions for skint that I've seen before include "Broke (sl.)" , "Having little money" , "Impoverished" , "Hard up (sl.)" , "Impecunious" .)