Bolo do Caco

Bolo do Caco is one of those breads that stops you in your tracks the first time you taste it. I first encountered it while filming Season Two of Maria’s Portuguese Table on the island of Madeira, and I have been thinking about it ever since. This traditional Madeiran flatbread is soft, slightly dense from sweet potato, and cooked right on a hot stone — or in your kitchen, a cast iron pan works just fine. I can’t wait for you to try this Bolo do Caco recipe at home.

What is Bolo do Caco?

Bolo do Caco is a traditional flatbread from the island of Madeira, Portugal. The name comes from the flat basalt stone slab — the “caco” — that the bread is cooked on. Unlike most breads, it gets its soft, slightly dense texture from mashed sweet potato in the dough. You’ll find it at every outdoor market and festival in Madeira, often sliced open and spread with garlic butter or filled with grilled meat. One of the most famous versions in the United States is made at the Madeira Festival in New Bedford, Massachusetts — though that recipe is a closely guarded secret. The recipe below is a wonderful traditional version that captures everything special about this bread.

How to Make This Recipe

Making Bolo do Caco takes a few hours, but none of the steps are complicated — it’s mostly about patience. You’ll cook and mash the sweet potatoes first, then mix them into your dough with flour, yeast, and salt. From there, the dough goes through several rounds of stretching and folding with rest periods in between — four rounds total. This develops the gluten and gives the bread its chewy, tender texture. After shaping into rounds, the bread cooks in a dry skillet rather than an oven, which is what makes it unique. The full recipe with detailed instructions comes from Just Cook with Michael, whose version we use here as a stand-in for the traditional stone-cooked recipe featured on the show.

Tips for the Best Bolo do Caco

• Let your cooked sweet potatoes cool completely before adding them to the dough. Even slightly warm potatoes can kill the yeast.
• Don’t skip the stretching and folding steps. Four rounds may seem like a lot, but this is what gives the bread its texture — not kneading.
• A cast iron skillet is your best substitute for a basalt stone. It holds heat evenly and gives you a good crust.
• Cook low and slow after the initial sear. Two minutes on high heat, then drop it down — the bread needs to cook through without burning the outside.
• Flatten each dough round to 8–10 inches before the final rise so it cooks evenly all the way through.
• Use parchment or a dusting of flour in the pan. This dough is sticky and will make friends with ungreased surfaces.
• Serve warm. Bolo do Caco is at its best right off the skillet, sliced horizontally with a generous spread of butter.

A good cast iron skillet makes all the difference for this recipe. I use mine constantly — this Lodge skillet is the one I’d recommend.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Serving and Storing

Bolo do Caco is best served warm, sliced horizontally and spread with butter or garlic butter. In Madeira, you’ll often see it filled with grilled beef at festivals — it makes a wonderful sandwich bread. Leftovers can be kept in an airtight bag or container at room temperature for up to two days. To reheat, warm it in a dry skillet over medium heat for a couple of minutes per side, or wrap it in foil and heat in a low oven (300°F) for about 10 minutes.

Print