Bolo do caco
A bread from Madeira whose name refers to the caco — the flat basalt stone it was traditionally baked on over the fire. The sweet potato in the dough is not decoration: it brings moisture and starch, so the bread stays soft for longer even though it cooks on a dry pan. It is most often served split and spread with garlic butter, which soaks into the warm crumb.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Sweet potato 25 min
- Dough 20 min
- Rising 85 min
- Cooking 30 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneCook and mash the sweet potato
Boil the sweet potato in its skin for 25 minutes, peel it and mash smooth with a fork. Cool to lukewarm — hot purée kills the yeast, and that is the one mistake in this recipe with no remedy.
Ingredients: 300 g sweet potato · 500 g plain flour · 120 ml water · 20 g fresh yeast · 1 tbsp sugar · 1½ tsp salt · 30 g butter
Mashed with a fork and cooled to lukewarm.Knead the dough with the purée
Dissolve the yeast in the warm water with the sugar, add it to the purée, add the flour and salt, pour in the melted butter and knead 10 minutes. The dough should be soft and slightly tacky — the sweet potato brings moisture, so resist adding flour.
Ingredients: 300 g sweet potato · 500 g plain flour · 120 ml water · 20 g fresh yeast · 1 tbsp sugar · 1½ tsp salt · 30 g butter
Soft and slightly tacky — the sweet potato brings water.Rise until doubled
Cover and leave 70 minutes, until doubled. Sweet potato dough rises readily — its sugars feed the yeast, so keep to the time and do not overprove, or it collapses.
Ingredients: 300 g sweet potato · 500 g plain flour · 120 ml water · 20 g fresh yeast · 1 tbsp sugar · 1½ tsp salt · 30 g butter
Shape flat rounds
Divide into six pieces and flatten each by hand into a 15 cm round, 2 cm thick. Flat and wide — bolo do caco is not a roll but a flatbread meant to be split horizontally. Lay the rounds on a floured worktop, cover and leave for 15 minutes.
Ingredients: 300 g sweet potato · 500 g plain flour · 120 ml water · 20 g fresh yeast · 1 tbsp sugar · 1½ tsp salt · 30 g butter
Cook on a dry pan with no fat
Heat a heavy pan and cook the rounds in batches, 2–3 at a time, 6 minutes a side over medium heat, with no fat — all of them take about 30 minutes in total. Medium heat is crucial: too high scorches the surface before the centre bakes, and the bread is 2 cm thick.
Ingredients: 50 g flour
Dry pan, medium heat, six minutes a side.Test by tapping the base
The bread is done when it sounds hollow tapped underneath and the sides feel dry. If the sides are damp, stand the loaf on its edge and cook a minute at a time around the circumference.
Ingredients: 300 g sweet potato · 500 g plain flour · 120 ml water · 20 g fresh yeast · 1 tbsp sugar · 1½ tsp salt · 30 g butter
Make the garlic butter
Beat the soft butter with the crushed garlic, chopped parsley and salt. The butter must be soft, not melted — melted, it runs off the bread instead of soaking into the crumb.
Ingredients: 120 g butter · 5 cloves garlic · 4 tbsp parsley · ½ tsp salt
Split and butter while hot
Split the warm bread horizontally and spread both cut faces with garlic butter. The warm crumb absorbs it instantly — that is the entire point of this bread and why it is so popular in Madeira.
Ingredients: 120 g butter · 5 cloves garlic · 4 tbsp parsley · ½ tsp salt
Before you start
Orange or white sweet potato
In Madeira paler-fleshed sweet potatoes are often used, less sweet and more floury. Orange gives a sweeter, distinctly coloured bread. Both work — orange is simply easier to find and better looking in the slice.
What it is served with
In Madeira bolo do caco is the basis of sandwiches: with espetada (beef skewers), with cheese and ham, with fried fish. On its own, with garlic butter, it is served as a starter in many restaurants on the island.
Two days of softness
Sweet potato starch holds water, so the bread stays soft two days in a plastic bag. Reheat on a dry pan a minute a side — it comes back close to fresh, unlike ordinary rolls.
