Sweetly savoury, crispy-crusted and comfortingly fluffy within, Bolo do Caco – one of Madeira’s iconic bakes – elevates a simple soft cheese/olive selection to stellar heights, makes a wonderful alternative to pitta or flatbread to accompany a summery antipasti array… and even works well as an anchor for bacon and eggs. And, once the dough is ready, you don’t need to fire up the oven – the ‘baking’ magic is all done in a pan on the stove.
If you want to get ahead, you can make the sweet potato mash up to 2 days before making the bread (keep it in a sealed container in the fridge). But don’t be tempted to use traditional strong bread flour in your dough; good old plain flour is your best friend here.
Ingredients (makes 4 breads)
2 large sweet potatoes, to create 200g mash
500g plain flour
1 x 7g sachet fast-action yeast
350ml warm water
To serve: garlic butter; freshly-chopped parsley
Method
Bake or microwave the sweet potatoes until soft and allow to cool before scooping out the flesh, mashing until smooth and seasoning well.
Combine the seasoned mash with the flour, yeast and enough of the water to make a soft, wet dough. Knead the dough for around 8-10 minutes or until smooth and elastic, cover with a clean tea towel and set to one side in a warm place for 30 minutes.
Divide the dough into 4 balls and, using lightly-oiled hands, flatten each ball to create thick dough discs. Cover with the tea towel again and return to the warm place for another 30 minutes.
When you’re ready to ‘bake’, melt a knob of butter in a suitably-sized non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the breads one at a time for around 8-10 minutes (turning occasionally) or until the dough has cooked through and the crusts have browned, wrapping each cooked bread in a tea towel to keep soft and warm as you go.
Serve drizzled with garlic butter and sprinkled with freshly-chopped parsley.