Bola de Caco - Traditional Bread from Madeira

I've recently return 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 which we love, but today I am sharing with you a recipe for the local bread, Bola de Caco.  We were served this little round loaf as garlic bread on several occasions, but I also saw it sold from a stall as a sandwich snack.

Bola de Caco Garlic 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 de Caco is sweet potato, although I think their sweet potato must be less orange as the bread was not as coloured as mine.  Some recipes suggested a sour dough, but I didn't have time to wait, so my version is a fast action yeast version.  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.

Bola de Caco

Ingredients:
500g plain flour (not strong bread flour)
7g sachet Fast Action Yeast
200 grams sweet potatoes, (about 2)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
350ml warm water

Method:

• 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.

1. baking the Bola de Caco in the pan (a smaller high sided pan is recommended but I don't have one)
2. The dough on it's second rise
3. Texture of the bread which is slightly chewy on the outside but soft and light inside.
4. The bread rounds cooling.

I was surprised how easy it was to make the Bola de Caco and pleased that they cooked all the way through.  As you can see above, this little bread also makes a great bacon butty!

I'm entering the Bola de 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