Bolo do Caco in the Air FryerMadeira Garlic Bread

Bolo do caco comes from Madeira, where it's cooked on a flat basalt stone called a caco. Mashed sweet potato in the dough keeps it soft and slightly sweet. Islanders split it open while hot and spread it with garlic butter, or use it as the bread for a prego (steak sandwich).

The air fryer gives it a gentle golden crust without drying it out. Allow an hour for the dough to rise.

The recipe

Bolo do Caco in the Air FryerMadeira Garlic Bread

Madeira's soft sweet-potato flatbread, cooked in the air fryer and split open with melting garlic and parsley butter. The island's favourite street snack.

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Prep20 min

Cook15 min

Total35 min

Serves6 breads

Ingredients

MetricUS

Makes

6

breads

½×1×2×3×

• 500 g strong white bread flour
• 200 g cooked sweet potato, mashed and cooled
• 7 g dried yeast (1 sachet)
• 1 tsp salt
• About 200 ml lukewarm water
• For the garlic butter: 100 g soft butter, 3 cloves garlic crushed, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, a pinch of salt

Method

1. Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Add the sweet potato and most of the water and mix into a soft dough, adding more water if needed.
2. Knead for 8–10 minutes until smooth and slightly sticky. Cover and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled.
3. Divide into 6 pieces. Shape each into a ball, then flatten it into a disc about 2 cm thick and 12 cm across. Leave them for 15 minutes on a floured tray.
4. Air fry at 180 °C for 12–15 minutes, turning halfway, until golden on both sides and hollow-sounding when tapped. Work in batches.
5. Meanwhile, mix the butter with the garlic, parsley and salt.
6. Split the breads while hot and spread generously with garlic butter.

Notes

Clear ticks

Tap ingredients and steps to tick them off. Scaling changes the quantities at the start of each line; check the rest by eye.

The prego no caco

For a Madeira-style steak sandwich, fill a garlic-buttered bolo do caco with a thin steak seared in garlic, like the one in our bitoque recipe.

From the shop

What you’ll need

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