I’ve recently returned from a holiday (vacation) on the beautiful island of Madeira. After the first day of rain and mist, the sun shone and we really enjoyed the island and, of course, the food. As it is an island there was a lot of fish on the menu, which we love. However, today I am sharing with you a recipe for the local bread, Bola do Caco.
We were served Bola do Caco, a little round loaf slathered in parsley or garlic butter, on several occasions It was also on sale at street stalls, made on site and then filled and sold as a sandwich.
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| Bola do Caco Bread served with fresh cheese and olives, eaten in a restaurant overlooking the Marina at Funchal. |
On our return, I did a little research and found that one of the ingredients in Bola do Caco is sweet potato. The sweet potato used in Madeira is a white version whereas I could only get the orange sweet potato for my Bola do Caco, so the colour is a little different but the taste is pretty much the same. I have recently been informed that it doesn’t have to contain sweet potato, however, I didn’t find any recipes in my research that didn’t use sweet potato, so that’s the version I am sharing with you.
Some recipes suggested a sourdough, but as I don’t have a sourdough starter and am not patient enough to wait, I made a version of Bola do Caco with fast action yeast. I have kept faithful to the method of baking which is in a pan, so it’s a bit like a cross between a tattie scone and a giant English Muffin.
- 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
- 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.
Adapted from by Farmersgirl Kitchen
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Here’s how I baked the Bola do Caco bread
Picture 1: Baking 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)
Picture 2: The dough on its second rise
Picture 3: The texture of the bread which is slightly chewy on the outside but soft and light inside.
Picture 4: The bread rounds cooling.
I was surprised how easy it was to make the Bola do Caco, it rose well and baked through without any difficulty. The texture of the bread was good and it tasted delicious.
As you can see above, this little bread also makes a great bacon butty!
I’m entering the Bola do Caco for the new Bread based linky “Bready Steady Go” the brainchild of Jen from Jen’s Food and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food for Families
I had a feeling Maderian recipes would feature Janice! Sounds scrummy while being easy to make 👍
More coming soon!
What an interesting recipe Janice, and I must say it is very similar to Toutons in a way! Karen
I cannot read that word without laughing, Karen. I must go back and check out the recipe from Faerie Land 😉
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!
Thanks Dom, I did think you must be able to get white sweet potatoes, but I've never seen them.
Never heard of this kind of bread but it looks fantastic! x
Neither had I Sylvia, love finding new things.
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! 🙂
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!
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!
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!
This looks fabulous Janice. We've got all the ingredients so there's no stopping us.
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!
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:-)
I like the addition of sweet potato. Yes please.
Yummy! Another way to use my favourite sweet potato!
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.
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.
Bolo do Caco is the correct spelling. I tried this recipe it was very good.
Thank you Jen 😊
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 !
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.