Recipe: Perfect Bolo do caco (Madeiran bread)

Bolo do caco (Madeiran bread). Bolo do caco is a typical Madeiran bread, made from flour, sweet potatoes, yeast, water and salt. At present, it is possible to find similarities between the bolo do caco and a few North African breads, like flatbreads with little or no yeast, such as the Algerian kesra or the Moroccan harcha. Bolo do caco is a flat, circular bread, shaped like a cake and thus called bolo (Portuguese for 'cake').

The "Bolo do Caco" bread is a food that establishes a link between Madeiran bread and the bread which the Hebrew people baked, as stated in the Old Testament. Made with wheat flour, homemade yeast, water and salt, it is kneaded and after raising, the dough is cut into rounded and flattened pieces. This fluffy Madeiran flatbread is something between a pita and and English muffin. You can have Bolo do caco (Madeiran bread) using 8 ingredients and 14 steps. Here is how you cook it.

Ingredients of Bolo do caco (Madeiran bread)

Prepare 375 g of Sweet potato.
It's 375 g of Bread flour.
It's 9 g of Active yeast.
You need 220-230 ml of warm water (boil sweet potato).
It's of Salt.
You need of Butter 1 small chunk.
You need 2 cloves of Garlic.
Prepare of Flat parsley.

The addition of sweet potato gives the dough a bit of chew and a generous shmear of garlic and herb butter before serving elevates them to a stand-alone appetizer. This sweet bread is crumpled into a ball, then flattened and cooked It is served with slices of fried bread or in "Bolo do caco" sandwiches. It is mostly appreciated during the Christmas season. Bolo do caco is a round bread that is traditionally cooked on a caco, a basalt stone slab.

Bolo do caco (Madeiran bread) instructions

Boil sweet potato in slightly salted water for 20 minutes..
Remove the softened sweet potato from the water and keep the water for later use..
Mash the sweet potato and let it cool down..
Wait until the water that boil sweet potato to cool down to be warm and get 150ml water to mix with yeast. Leave the yeast mixture aside for 10 minutes..
Add the yeast mixture into the mashed sweet potato and mix well. And then add in a tiny salt in..
Mix the mashed sweet potato with the flour..
Add in 80ml sweet potato water gradually in the dough and keep kneading until the texture shown as picture..
Sprinkle a bit flour on the top and cover the dough by a tea towel or clingfilm and let the dough do the first 40-minute fermentation..
When the dough is double sized, it’s ready for the further step..
Sprinkle some flour and divide the dough into 6 small doughs. Sprinkle more flour on the top of the doughs and cover by a tea towel for 2nd 15-20 minute fermentation..
Add mashed garlic, chopped parsley and salt into a soften butter and mix them well. And then put it into the fridge..
Heat the pan and put one dough in. Flat the dough a bit and fry one side for 5-10 minutes (depends on the size). Make sure both sides turn into golden brown and get the hollow sound when patting the bread..
Cover the ready cooked breads by a clean tea towel..
When serve the bread, just slice the bread and put some garlic butter inside of the bread like a sandwich and then cut the bread into quarters. Enjoy..

The bread is usually served simply with garlic butter and is usually eaten as a sandwich with typical Madeiran foods like octopus, meat skewers (espetada), milho frito, and also used as the bread for a typical. The "Bolo do Caco" is a typical wheat bread of Madeira and Porto Santo. This bread, made from wheat flour, is flattened and has rounded edges. The tomato and onion soup is one of the references of traditional Madeiran cuisine. Served with poached egg and bread, it is to eat and cry for more!