Bola 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 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 Bola do Caco at street stalls, where it is 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. |
The Quest for a Bola do Caco Recipe
What does Bola do Caco mean?
Bola is a Portuguese word that means ball or round. It is commonly used to describe any type of cake, for example, Bola 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 Bola do Caco contain Sweet Potato?
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 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 Bola 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 Bola 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 Bola do Caco bread
- 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)
- Leave the dough to rise for a second time.
- The texture of the bread which is slightly chewy on the outside but soft and light inside.
- Cover the bread rounds with a clean tea towel to keep them soft.
It really is very easy to make the Bola 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.
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!
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
Bola do Caco
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.
Donna B says
I had a feeling Maderian recipes would feature Janice! Sounds scrummy while being easy to make 👍
Janice Pattie says
More coming soon!
Karen S Booth says
What an interesting recipe Janice, and I must say it is very similar to Toutons in a way! Karen
Janice Pattie says
I cannot read that word without laughing, Karen. I must go back and check out the recipe from Faerie Land 😉
belleau kitchen says
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!
Janice Pattie says
Thanks Dom, I did think you must be able to get white sweet potatoes, but I've never seen them.
Sylvia F. says
Never heard of this kind of bread but it looks fantastic! x
Janice Pattie says
Neither had I Sylvia, love finding new things.
Jen Price says
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! 🙂
Janice Pattie says
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!
fiona maclean says
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!
Janice Pattie says
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!
Anita-Clare Field says
This looks fabulous Janice. We've got all the ingredients so there's no stopping us.
Anne Szadorska says
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!
Camilla Hawkins says
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:-)
Bintu Hardy says
I like the addition of sweet potato. Yes please.
tinkertink2010 says
Yummy! Another way to use my favourite sweet potato!
Choclette says
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.
Janice Pattie says
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.
Jen says
Bolo do Caco is the correct spelling. I tried this recipe it was very good.
Janice Pattie says
Thank you Jen 😊
João Rocha says
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 !
Janice Pattie says
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.
Choclette says
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.
Janice Pattie says
I agree, never enough time to try new recipes. It’s a fun make and super easy.
Margaret Pereira says
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!
Janice Pattie says
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