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Home » Baking » Bolo do Caco – Traditional Bread from Madeira

April 6, 2015 By Janice Pattie 29 Comments

Bolo do Caco – Traditional Bread from Madeira

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Bola de Caco,Traditional Sweet Potato Bread from the Island of Madeira,, baled om a pan and served with garlic butter. #Madeira #bread

Bolo do Caco is a local bread from the beautiful island of Madeira.   It is a stovetop pan baked bread often served as an appetiser with garlic butter.  Let me show you how to make it, it’s really very simple.

Traditional Bread from Madeira

Traditional Bread of Madeira

I have visited the Island of Madeira twice and eaten in quite a few restaurants.  This flatbread is served warm at the table spread thickly in parsley or garlic butter and cut into wedges. You may also be served a side plate of local soft cheeses and olives.

You can buy Bolo do Caco at street stalls, where it is made on-site, and then filled and sold as a sandwich.

Bola de Caco and views of the island of Madeira
Bolo do Caco Bread served with fresh cheese and olives, eaten in a restaurant overlooking the Marina at Funchal. 

The Quest for a Bolo do Caco Recipe

What does Bolo do Caco mean?

Bolo is a Portuguese word that means ball or round.  It is commonly used to describe any type of cake, for example, Bolo de Miel is a rich fruit cake the equivalent of our Christmas Cake. 

Caco translates as a piece or fragment, which leads me to think that it refers to the wedges that are cut from the round. 

Does Bolo do Caco contain Sweet Potato?

On our return, I did a little research and found that one of the ingredients in Bolo do Caco is sweet potato. The sweet potato used in Madeira is white whereas I could only get the orange sweet potato. This means that the colour of my bread is a little different but the taste is pretty much the same. 

Apparently, not all Bolo do Caco contains sweet potato.  However, all the recipes I found in my research use sweet potato, so that is why I have included it in the ingredients. 

Is Bolo do Caco a sourdough bread?

Some recipes suggest using a sourdough starter, this recipe uses fast action yeast to make it more accessible to all. 

How do you bake the bread?

I have kept faithful to the method of baking which is in a pan.  I like to think of it as a cross between a Scottish tattie scone and a giant English Muffin.

How to make Bolo do Caco bread

  1. Bake the Bola do Caco in the pan (a smaller high sided pan is recommended but I didn’t have one and it worked just fine)
  2. Leave the dough to rise for a second time.
  3. The texture of the bread which is slightly chewy on the outside but soft and light inside.
  4. Cover the bread rounds with a clean tea towel to keep them soft.
Making Bola de Caco

It really is very easy to make the Bolo do Caco. It rises well and although it bakes in a pan, the bread bakes right through without any difficulty.  The texture of the bread is good and it tastes delicious.

Using the flatbread to make a Bacon Sandwich

Serving Suggestion

Serve split across the middle and spread with garlic butter in the traditional way, or fill the bread with the sandwich filling of your choice. Fill with bacon for a great bacon butty!

Bola de Caco,Traditional Sweet Potato Bread from the Island of Madeira,, baled om a pan and served with garlic butter. #Madeira #bread

PIN FOR LATER

More International Bread Recipes

Spicy Chicken Stuffed Bun is a soft bread roll filled with a mixture of cooked chicken, ginger, chilli, and coriander.  They are quite delicious and ideal to serve warm at a buffet. 

Oatmeal Irish Soda Bread is a non-yeasted bread that is quick to make and tastes very delicious indeed 

Sesame Bagels -Feast Glorious Feast 

Malawach Fried Flatbread – Family Friends Food

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Bola do Caco

Traditional
A traditional sweet potato bread from the island of Madeira, baked in a pan and usually served with garlic butter, local soft cheeses and olives.
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 1 hr 40 mins
Cook Time 40 mins
Total Time 2 hrs 20 mins
Course Baking
Cuisine Portugese
Servings 4
Calories 504 kcal

Ingredients
 

  • 500 g plain flour not strong bread flour
  • 7 g sachet Fast Action Yeast
  • 200 grams sweet potatoes (about 2)
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
  • 350 ml warm water

Instructions
 

  • Bake the sweet potatoes, either in the oven for about 30-40 minutes or in the microwave for 8-10 minutes (timings depend on size of sweet potatoes). Once cooked until soft, scoop out the flesh and mash until smooth.
  • Combine the sweet potatoes with the other ingredients and enough warm water to make a very soft, wet dough. Using one hand, bring all the ingredients together and mix thoroughly for 5-10 minutes or until dough becomes elastic.
  • Cover dough loosely with cling film and leave in a warm place for 30 minutes.
  • Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions. Oil your hands, so they don’t stick to the dough, shape into flattened rounds and set aside to prove for another 30 minutes, covered with a damp towel.
  • Melt a little butter in a small, high sided pan (or whatever kind of pan you have) and cook each round over a low heat for 8-10 minutes on each side until browned and cooked through.
  • Repeat process with remaining bread, keeping the cooked Bola soft by covering with a clean tea towel on a cooling rack.

Notes

Adapted from by Farmersgirl Kitchen

Nutrition

Calories: 504kcalCarbohydrates: 106gProtein: 14gFat: 1gSodium: 326mgPotassium: 318mgFiber: 5gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 7095IUVitamin C: 1.2mgCalcium: 36mgIron: 6.1mg
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Filed Under: Baking, Light Bites, Summer, Vegetarian Tagged With: bread, Madeira, Sweet Potato

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Donna B says

    April 6, 2015 at 7:39 pm

    I had a feeling Maderian recipes would feature Janice! Sounds scrummy while being easy to make 👍

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      April 7, 2015 at 7:36 pm

      More coming soon!

      Reply
  2. Karen S Booth says

    April 7, 2015 at 9:31 am

    What an interesting recipe Janice, and I must say it is very similar to Toutons in a way! Karen

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      April 7, 2015 at 7:36 pm

      I cannot read that word without laughing, Karen. I must go back and check out the recipe from Faerie Land 😉

      Reply
  3. belleau kitchen says

    April 7, 2015 at 2:37 pm

    oh god I love different local breads, this looks sensational. You can get white sweet potatoes and sweet potato flour too. Anyway, this look amazing!

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      April 7, 2015 at 7:37 pm

      Thanks Dom, I did think you must be able to get white sweet potatoes, but I've never seen them.

      Reply
  4. Sylvia F. says

    April 7, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    Never heard of this kind of bread but it looks fantastic! x

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      April 7, 2015 at 7:38 pm

      Neither had I Sylvia, love finding new things.

      Reply
  5. Jen Price says

    April 7, 2015 at 6:14 pm

    The best part about going on holiday is trying new foods, even better when you find something that is easy to recreate at home. I need to get some sweet potatoes in and try this. Thanks for joining in with Bready, Steady Go! 🙂

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      April 7, 2015 at 7:40 pm

      I agree Jen, I love to try new food. Thanks for the push to actually make this bread, as I suspect I might have let it pass me by after my initial enthusiasm!

      Reply
  6. fiona maclean says

    April 7, 2015 at 6:17 pm

    Looks fab! A lot of the fruit and veg in madeira is unique for regulatory reasons – those tiny bananas you may have found are not allowed to be sold anywhere else as bananas!

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      April 7, 2015 at 7:42 pm

      Ah yes, I have many photos of bananas growing on the terraces. We also got nabbed in the Farmers Market and tried a whole lot of different types of fruit, then the guy tried to sell us one of each. I managed to get away with only four fruits!

      Reply
  7. Anita-Clare Field says

    April 7, 2015 at 8:25 pm

    This looks fabulous Janice. We've got all the ingredients so there's no stopping us.

    Reply
  8. Anne Szadorska says

    April 7, 2015 at 8:29 pm

    Ah your holiday looks lovely, am so jealous I need sun! The bread looks lovely and I love easy pan breads like this! I love sweet potato too so definitely snagging this!

    Reply
  9. Camilla Hawkins says

    April 7, 2015 at 10:30 pm

    Ooh this sounds really tasty bread with the addition of sweet potatoes – my daughter would love this too as we are big fans of the sweet potato:-)

    Reply
  10. Bintu Hardy says

    April 8, 2015 at 7:14 am

    I like the addition of sweet potato. Yes please.

    Reply
  11. tinkertink2010 says

    April 8, 2015 at 8:01 pm

    Yummy! Another way to use my favourite sweet potato!

    Reply
  12. Choclette says

    July 21, 2016 at 9:27 pm

    How did I miss this post? That bread looks amazing and I want to try it. If memory serves correctly (and it may not) white sweet potatoes are not nearly as sweet as the orange ones. My mother bring me back a bola de something or other whenever she visits my aunt in Portugal – it’s the best cinnamon roll I’ve ever had.

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      July 21, 2016 at 10:34 pm

      Madeira is a Portuguese island so must be similar thing. The taste was similar so the white sweet potatoes couldn’t be too much sweeter. It was pretty easy to make, well worth a try.

      Reply
  13. Jen says

    March 27, 2017 at 1:48 am

    Bolo do Caco is the correct spelling. I tried this recipe it was very good.

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      March 27, 2017 at 7:16 am

      Thank you Jen 😊

      Reply
  14. João Rocha says

    February 1, 2019 at 11:38 pm

    You don’t even say it right it’s ( Bolo do caco ) , I’m from Madeira and that recipe it’s not the same , you 1st don’t have to put any off sweet potato on the mixture and 2 the special ingredient it’s fresh parsley on the butter , that’s what make bolo do caco a specialty !! Don’t came and say it’s basically the same taste because it truly not the same taste !

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      February 2, 2019 at 9:34 am

      Hi Joao, thank you for the corrections. We really loved Madeira and returned again last year. We also loved the food of your country. It was incredibly difficult to find a recipe and apologies for getting the name wrong. When I ate the Bolo in Madeira, it definitely tasted of garlic but perhaps it was not the authentic recipe. I will add your comments to my recipe, thanks again for your help.

      Reply
  15. Choclette says

    March 2, 2020 at 9:17 am

    So many exciting recipes to try and so little time. But I absolutely must find time for this one. Love the idea of baking it in a pan and adding sweet potato.

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      March 2, 2020 at 10:51 am

      I agree, never enough time to try new recipes. It’s a fun make and super easy.

      Reply
  16. Margaret Pereira says

    June 11, 2020 at 5:56 am

    Thanks, Janice! My husband’s parents and older sister are from Madeira, and he recently had a craving for Bolo do caco. Since we live in California and are still under “shelter in place” restrictions, I’ve tried several different recipes found on the internet, but each one failed for one reason or another. Today, I tried yours. Success! One thing I changed about your recipe: I cooked the dough in an electric frying pan, which I preheated at the hottest setting. With the pan really hot, I dropped the dough straight on the pan (no fat, no butter), and cooked it, covered, for the 8 minutes per side you recommend. The bread was delicious. I look forward to making this again in the future since my whole family loved it!

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      June 11, 2020 at 8:59 am

      Im so pleased that you enjoyed the Bola do Caco, Margaret. We loved it when we were in Madeira and recipes are few and far between. What a great idea to make it using your electric frying pan to make the bread. Thanks again for letting me know. Janice

      Reply
  17. Ant Winder says

    October 3, 2020 at 2:23 pm

    You are still spelling it wrong, though this was pointed out years ago in these comments! It’s bolo do caco. Why not correct it, especially in the title?
    I have used this recipe a number of times having discovered this wonderful bread in Madeira like you did. The recipe was very useful to me when it was one of only a very few on the web. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Janice Pattie says

      October 3, 2020 at 2:54 pm

      Hi Ant
      Thanks for your comment. I’ll make those changes as soon as possible. I’m glad you like the recipe.

      Reply

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Hello, I’m Janice, I live on a farm and I love to cook and bake. My aim is to be your friend in the kitchen, providing simple and delicious recipes, friendly advice, inspiration, and honest reviews. Read more on my About page.

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